Better Lovers
Highly Irresponsible


4.0
excellent

Review

by Sarah USER (70 Reviews)
October 25th, 2024 | 127 replies


Release Date: 10/25/2024 | Tracklist

Review Summary: The places left that we intersect can determine our views on these

Strange things have come out of the implosion of Every Time I Die, and the disbandment (and later reconvening) of The Dillinger Escape Plan. Perhaps the strangest out of all of it has to be the union of Dillinger's vocalist Greg Puciato with the vast majority of Every Time I Die's instrumental section-excluding guitarist Andy Williams, who is currently focusing on his professional wrestling career and has essentially been replaced with Fit For An Autopsy's Will Putney. It may seem like an odd combination at first, but Highly Irresponsible, which is Better Lovers's debut album, is further proof that the mesh of these three bands actually works extraordinarily well. If you were still skeptical of what the band was capable of after 2023's God Made Me An Animal, let this be the record that puts all of your fears to rest.

Greg Puciato, as always, is at the top of his game here. His screams have only gotten better over the years, and tracks such as "A White Horse Covered In Blood" and "Love As An Act Of Rebellion" showcase him at his absolute peak; the man has never sounded this genuinely deranged before, and it works out quite well for the album's weird mish-mash of punk-styled mathcore that it's going for. He's top notch with the clean singing as well, which is primarily evident on the aforementioned "Horse" and the slower-styled "At All Times", but the star of the show vocally is really his unclean vocals. The instrumentalists are no slouch either; Putney and Jordan Buckley deliver some of the best riffs of their entire careers, with "Future Myopia" and "Drowning In A Burning World" being the best showcases of what they're capable of; the two play off of each other shockingly well, while Stephen Micciche consistently provides one hell of a bass groove that is appreciatingly audible during the majority of the album (a rarity for a core release nowadays). Even though Clayton Holyoak's drumming is undisputably the weak point, it's in no way slouching compared to everyone else, as most of the drumming throughout the album is animalistic in the best way possible and my primary complaint is that he seems to just slow down sometimes even after proving he is more than capable of keeping up with the rest of the band.

Ultimately, the primary way Highly Irresponsible really keeps itself firmly out of the "true greatness" camp is the lyrics. I understand that Puciato has never been a master wordsmith, but there's a lot of repetition here when a lot of songs could have benefitted without it. The bridge of "Lie Between The Lies" consists of literally nothing but "I can't believe I'm just like you", while "Deliver Us From Life" really hammers in that they "won't be needing you", "but I see through" in what I am certain are thinly-veiled shots at Buckley. Putney isn't exactly a master producer, either, and while his work on Highly Irresponsible is nothing to write home about, it gets the job done, and when it comes to a debut that's really all you can ask for. I think Better Lovers will just go nowhere but up as time goes on as long as they keep down the path they've laid down here. The future is bright for this unholy fusion of two of the greatest core bands to ever do it...and the one dude from Fit For An Autopsy.



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user ratings (173)
3.8
excellent

Comments:Add a Comment 
Valzentia
October 25th 2024


1486 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Album stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3exRH9T55nlwQ2JffTYkSZ



This is the good shit. "A White Horse Covered In Blood" and "At All Times" are my favorite tracks tbh

Valzentia
October 25th 2024


1486 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

also lol review #69



nice



haha i'm immature please kill me

Scoot
October 25th 2024


22754 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

this is like going to your divorced dads house and meeting his new gf



she's cool and all, but you miss when your parents were together and happy

Tunaboy45
October 25th 2024


18563 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

That last 3 track run really makes it, Superman in particular is amazing

Zac124
October 25th 2024


3120 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Listened to this again and my opinion has stayed exactly the same pretty much. A few killer tracks here and the rest here ranges from mid to pretty good. Little disappointed considering the band members but still happy this exists.

AlexKzillion
October 25th 2024


17967 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

nah this is mom's side of the divorce... found a new man (greg) with money that allows her to maintain her lifetstyle and she took the kid's with her (the rest of the band). it's not dad but he's a fine enough dude and you're making the best of it



many eyes is dad's side for sure. falls in love with way uglier women at the bar every weekend, gone as soon as they came. spamming facebook let everyone know he's the happiest he's ever been, nobody believes him

Scoot
October 25th 2024


22754 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

lmao that's more accurate actually



would be very intriguing if someone used ai to put keith on this album instead

FearThyEvil
October 25th 2024


18815 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"That last 3 track run really makes it, Superman in particular is amazing"



Yup, the last 3 tracks are easily the best moment of the album for me as well. Only track I can say I genuinely despise is White Horse.

PickleVai17
October 26th 2024


210 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Love Dllinger and Love ETID so this was a pleasant listen hearing a fusion of the two.

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
October 26th 2024


10575 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"and the one dude from Fit For An Autopsy"

The disrespect!!!

Will czech this

Greg Puciato vocals are feral so I imagine I'll dig

nash1311
October 26th 2024


8664 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

The enjoyment of this record and band is so heavily contingent upon how much one likes Greg lol. His screams are incredible and visceral, his yells are sometimes annoying, and his choruses are so hit or miss. I expected and was glad that the singles were amongst the worst tracks In my opinion, but I’m still not sold on everything here. Love some of it, can’t stand others.

Futures
October 26th 2024


12021 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

greg is the perfect metalcore frontman. excited to listen to this.

peartnoy
October 26th 2024


2302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This lineup is ETID but with the DEP vocalist. The music is 1000% what you could expect from that combination and it's great.

Calc
October 26th 2024


17463 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

yeah this is great, people need to stop trying so hard to hate.

Comatorium.
October 26th 2024


5206 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

That’s really all it boils down to ^

JayEnder
October 26th 2024


21159 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Greg goes hard on this thing. Closer might actually be my fav song by these guys, even higher than Sacrificial.



Good album indeed m/

JeetJeet
October 26th 2024


12451 Comments


Yea I'm with Nash on this one. Big step up from the ep but I'm still not sold on this band yet.

Butkuiss
October 26th 2024


7769 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I am glad people are finding plenty to enjoy in this release (I wasn’t convinced by the EP) but I feel like the amount of issues this review finds with the album (the drum performance, the workmanlike production, the lyrics) makes it read more closely akin to a 3.3-3.5 than a 4.

JayEnder
October 26th 2024


21159 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

We can all agree this has a 10/10 album cover tho right?

HooperD87
October 26th 2024


207 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Definitely better than I was anticipating. I'm thinking the next album will be a killer. Seem like they are still finding their feet but they nailed a handful of songs here.



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