Amidst the recent fallout surrounding the break-up of metalcore outfit Every Time I Die, former members Jordan Buckley, Stephen Micciche, and Clayton Holyoak have wasted no time returning to the spotlight of heavy music with the recruitment of former The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and Fit For An Autopsy guitarist Will Putney, the anticipation behind the formation of Better Lovers was huge to say the least. Made up primarily of the ETID’s instrumental section (with the exclusion of Andy Williams) the band maintains its math-infused, Southern rock-infested metalcore foundation with the elevation of Puciato and Putney’s contributions which could first be heard on a number of earlier releases most notably the 2023 EP God Made Me An Animal. Now, after the wait for the band’s debut full length album is finally over, Better Lovers’ Highly Irresponsible feels like a resurrection for the members of the band getting back to what they all do best.
Whilst the record spans a much shorter runtime than one might expect at around 35 minutes, it is packed with a range of sonic layers and levels of intricacy. The few opening bars of the first track “Lie Between the Lines” set a contradictorily atmospheric tone that soon transits into dissonance and chaos. The guitar lines are sweet and melodious in sections whilst the sharp rhythms refine the overall sound, such chaos ensues on the following track “Your Misplaced Self” that sees Greg really come into his own in good old Dillinger-style fashion. Greg’s vocals really stand out throughout the album’s runtime, and “A White Horse Covered In Blood” is a perfect example of the vocalist exhibiting his versatile range with ferocity and superiority.
The fourth track “Future Myopia” highlights much of the artist’s roots falling into old school mathcore territory playing around with moments of technicality and combining hook-filled choruses in a swiftly executed fashion. Putney and Buckley’s leads find an excellent balance of complexity and aggression, genre-hopping between prog and ballad as the fist-pumping anthem “Deliver Us From Life” suggests. Micciche’s bass lines pierce through the mix finding some much-warranted ground to conjure the energy. Holyoak’s level of drumming ability is further amplified on “Drowning In A Burning World” through convoluted fills with brutal effect, the two-and-a-half-minute track is a homage to the pent-up rage and chaotic dissidence that fuels the artists’ songwriting.
Nearing the end of the record, “Everything Was Put Here For Me” is a primitive delivery of rage and belligerence, that old style southern rock influence shining through on a handful of the riffs whilst the bass tears through the mix again. “Superman Died Paralysed” conversely enters back into mathcore territory allowing the instrumentation to take a free-form sense of development that makes room for periods of insurmountable heaviness, with a flurry of guitar fills and a viscous vocal delivery. The penultimate track “At All Times” falls back into ballad-style territory and operates at a slower pace, yet this shouldn’t be engaged with lightly by any means, this is a powerful hard-hitting track that actually showcases a lot of Greg’s vocal range and allows the instrumentals to find new ground. The closing track “Love As An Act Of Rebellion”, on the other hand, goes back into the aggro hardcore-infused direction with jarring intensity through dissonant riffs piercing through the fabric.
For a band very short-lived, albeit from the ashes of one that arguably sets much of the groundwork, Better Lovers are able to reveal a level of seriousness and sincerity that distances themselves from being just another typical supergroup. The influences of pervious bands that the band members are affiliated (Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Fit For An Autopsy) are very much alive within Highly Irresponsible and they certainly use much of these sonic tropes to their advantage, and, whilst such a record may not at this time create something totally groundbreaking, Better Lovers appear as a band that could pose real longevity that will allow them to form a distinctiveness that stands apart from the members’ past projects.
