COUNTERPARTS REDUCE SOUTHAMPTON TO THE ESSENTIALS

⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)

COUNTERPARTS AT ENGINE ROOMS, SOUTHAMPTON
PHOTOCREDIT: **CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI**

Engine Rooms is a venue that is designed to host a variety of events through the year - most of the time, you could see 3-4 different types of events in the same week. But when the lineup is as good as tonight’s, the goal is not just variety, it is pressure. Embarking on a UK wide tour, Counterparts bring hardcore to the next level, supported by God Complex, One Step Closer and Sunami, to close off the Friday night by stripping away comfort and constraint, and letting emotional and physical tension loose.

First up on stage are God Complex, who opened the night with one single objective: to bring heaviness without ceremony. Their history in the UK metalcore underground has been defined by density and discipline, and live they watsed no time translating that into impact. Their set was blunt, efficient and full of rhythm. There was no attempt to ease the crowd in, as breakdowns landed early, vocals were confrontation and the sound was deliberately unforgiving. The crowd response was immediate, as the bodies braced and the pits opened. By the latter half of the set, the venue was a moving mass of sweat and moshers, with even a few crowdsurfers making their first appearance of the night. God Complex were the perfect band to set the tone and establish the baseline for the rest of the lineup to match their intensity.

One Step Closer took the stage almost straight after God Complex and they instantly showed that they did not come to play. Where God Complex worked through force, One Step Closer calibrated the room through emotion. Drawing from melodic hardcore and post-hardcore references, their history has always leaned more toward articulation rather than volume. Live, this distinction matters, because their set introduced melody and rhythm without compromising on energy. Their lyrics were cut clearly through the mix, the guitars were cleaner and the crowd responded with signalongs, headbangs and moshes. The pit was more fluid, focusing on shared movement and unity as the set progressed. One Step Closer are a great band to keep the energy up without burning it out completely, and they delivered a set that was dynamic and refreshing at the same time.

The last crowdsurfer hadn’t even made it back to the pit when Sunami took the stage, and restraint was no longer an option. Sunami’s rise has been defined by aggression and the embrace of hardcore tropes, but live, that self-awareness only amplified their effectiveness. Hailing all the way from the US, Sunami took the crowd by a storm. As their set progressed, and despite the static presence of the band on stage, the crowd completely lost it. Nobody in the venue was now an observer, everyone was a participant to the chaos. The pit erupted as the band trusted their audience to deliver what their sound is all about, a confrontational and communal experience. Sunami performed a longer set than their predecessors, covering a large part of their discography alongside some newer songs. If the start of their set was all about setting down rules, the end of the say was about completely ignoring them. And the crowd certainly loved it.

When Counterparts finally emerged, the room was already compromised. The crowd was emotionally primed and fully attentive as the band took the stage in what looked like a candle-lit cathedral. Counterparts have spent their career refining a sound that weaponises vulnerability, and live, they deployed that weapon with accuracy and maximum impact. Historically, the band’s identity has been rooted in lyrical despair framed by relentless hardcore structures. In Southampton, that balance was clear as day, with a set paced to maximise emotional strain and intensity. Every pause in the set felt intentional, like a preparation for the next blow as the songs progressed.

The setlist made non attempt in softening the material that was being delivered. As songs such as ‘A Martyr Left Alive’, ‘Bound to the Burn’ and ‘Choke’ came on, the crowd’s voices rose in unison and the bodies surged to the front. When ‘Unwavering Vow’ and ‘Your Own Knife’ were performed, the pits opened wide and full of frenzy, whilst ‘Stranger’ and ‘Praise No Artery Intact’ saw the most crowdsurfers of the night make it across the barrier. Counterparts treated their audience to a long setlist with not only the best of the best, but also songs that they do not usually play, all of which were delivered with the same intensity and chaos. As the set closed with encore ‘Love Me’ and ‘Whispers of Your Death’, it was clear that the audience was fully committed and equally challenged, yet chose to stay present and support the hardcore scene. Counterparts are a synthesis of three elements: heaviness, clarity and collapse; and yet, during their Southampton set, nothing felt out of place nor wasted. It felt cohesive and confrontational enough to remind you what musical and emotional breakdowns are all about.