Album/EP

Better Lovers - God Made Me An Animal (EP Review)

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Jul 7, 2023

7 min read

Better Lovers – God Made Me An Animal
Released: July 7, 2023

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The 17th of January 2022 was a tragic day in the world of metalcore. The iconic Buffalo outfit Every Time I Die announced they were no longer continuing as a band after a public fallout with vocalist Keith Buckley which occurred in December 2021. After approximately 23 years of transcending scenes, genres, trends and nine sensational studio albums, the institution that Every Time I Die had become was now the "Only Time I Die". Their legacy is known and felt globally; not only were they influential with their progression of the metal and hardcore hybrid to include southern rock, mathcore, post hardcore and even radio-friendly hooks - Keith's intellectual lyrics held a sophistication that harnessed originality and power (he is a University graduate in English and even taught at his old high school). Furthermore, arguably their most important attribute was that ETID were one of the outfits who would take younger bands on the road with them, help guide them and assist in their career ascension. Evidence? Turnstile, The Ghost Inside, Bring Me The Horizon, Architects and many more toured with the Buffalo pioneers as their support acts.

Then silence and disturbing darkness.

This was followed by hearsay, rumours and accusations - an ugliness and hopelessness that felt as though not only were Every Time I Die were beyond repair, the individual musicians were too. Although a sound and light emerged in leaking footage from guitarist Jordan Buckley who would sporadically post clips of himself jamming with drummer Clayton “Goose” Holyoak and bassist Steve Micciche. The short videos then became images of him in the studio with his band mates, it then became known that Will Putney was producing this new incredible project.

Frustratingly a “quiet” once again transpired.

Then in April 2023 all was revealed - Better Lovers was the new and excessively excellent endeavour featuring: Jordan Buckley, Steve Micciche and Clayton “Goose” Holyoak from ETID with Will Putney (Fit For An Autopsy, END) on guitar and the almighty Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Black Queen) as the lead vocalist. Let it be known that this writer will not use the term “supergroup” to categorise Better Lovers - the quintet exceeds that term. The five-piece are better labelled as “revolutionary”.

‘Sacrificial Participant’ is the explosive opening track to the EP which deafens the listener as if a cannon had been fired in very close proximity to their location. A tinnitus inspired resonance begins before Goose’s intense trigger drumming and Greg Puciato’s unique gravelly shriek awakens the witnesses from their daze into a Dillinger fused ETID mathcore assault. An understandable synthesis considering the DNA of which these musicians posses and their heroic history. Remarkably Mr Puciato navigates the song structure flawlessly and it fits eerily "too well”, the bond from years of touring together has clearly been strengthened in Better Lovers own creative space and Greg delivers above memorable vocal takes on the bridges and choruses that are engrained with Every Time I Die spirit.

Before jumping to conclusions, the chorus section of this song diverges away from what aficionados would anticipate to a degree. Musically, this approaches the territory of the conclusion to Thrice’s ‘Of Dust & Nations’ and it is strikingly spectacular. Honestly, the quintessential post hardcore quartet’s instruction is sprinkled throughout the EP’s introduction; notably so around the two-thirds mark of the song where a dreamy intermission calms the mathcore storm that would fit nicely on The Alchemy Index Volume III. If the readers have any room for concern here, please erase that rapidly as the song intensely finishes like repetitive one inch punches from Bruce Lee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV-lJsAzZmE

Lead single ’30 Under 13’ was undoubtedly the best debut for Better Lovers to shock and awe planet Earth with. Combining The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, The Chariot, a moment of Mastodon majesty and then a thrash section Metallica would be tantalised by, it is as if the track ‘We Are The Storm’ from DEP’s Miss Machine released in 2004 was the forewarning for BL. Assuredly many of us were left saying “Hot Damn!”, most likely followed by a James Hetfield “YEAH!” - or perhaps that was just this scribe? Nevertheless, the ‘Lovers are here to ‘Seek And Destroy’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU-nwWuyKXc

The severity continues with ‘Become So Small’ and these three minutes incredibly wind back the metallic hardcore clock to the early noughties. Glimmers of the charismatic Converge’s ‘Concubine’ are hauntingly called upon, with blasts of early era Integrity, Coalesce and even On Broken Wings. The five members of this band have these seminal groups engrained in their souls and to hear that historic phenomenon of sound modernised and delivered this extravagantly is mind-blowing. Not only are the spectators being enthralled by this vicious blast of heavy music, they are being educated too; it is fascinating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4pcIwsw5LQ

Better Lovers are not following convention or “rules” with their launch and the closing title track begins as a near sequel to Poison The Well’s ‘Slow Good Morning’ - the first 20 seconds are the tones of a hazy western soundtrack. This trot pace the cowboys are riding on their horses soon becomes a shoot-out gallop as the track blasts into a Cro-Mags thrash blitz, this is until the groove breakdown hits that recalls Dillinger’s ‘Manufacturing Discontent’ with an extraordinary ETID twist.

To make the journey a little more jaw-dropping, a guitar solo hits at the two minute mark which would turn Claudio Sanchez’s hair straight with astonishment before the song profoundly showcases elements of (understandably) Coheed & Cambria and then astoundingly Glassjaw. To conclude, the ferocity magnifies to an Every Time I Die beatdown until a peak when the shoot-out is proclaimed over and the western soundtrack from the beginning is returned to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg71Ed-8kdo

One of the best shows this writer has ever experienced was a Sidewave in 2009 which featured Evergreen Terrace, Every Time I Die, Poison The Well and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Evergreen Terrace is still active, Poison The Well perform a handful of times a year and we all know the fate of the remaining two. The idea that those two now deceased idyllic groups would somehow come together in some form was a dream too good to be true.

However, Greg Puciato most likely puts this best with his lyrics in DEP’s ‘Good Neighbour’: "This is not your dream”.

Jordan Buckley can then clarify all of this with his quote about Better Lovers: "Now, everybody needs to know we’re a wild animal that just broke out of the zoo—there’s no trying to put it back in the cage.”

God Made Me An Animal or God’s Afraid To See This Animal? Here is a certainty though: ‘Apologies Not Included’.