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.