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There is nothing like easing into the New Year with a nice easy gig, so I chose to kick off my 2025 by heading down to Project House on the outskirts of Leeds, where hardcore/punk “supergroup” Better Lovers were about to lay waste to the Yorkshire venue.

Opening up the tour were Louiseville outfit Greyhaven, who threw themselves straight into things, showing they weren’t along just for the ride. A vicious mix of mathcore and metalcore dowsed in melody, frontman Brent Mills was clearly enjoying being out on the road, informing the crowd new material was on the way as the band stamp through the “Confined Collapse,” “The Welcome Party,” and “Blemish.”

Equally unapologetic in their delivery was special guest Frontierer, who hit the stage like a car bomb going off. For a chaos-soaked forty minutes, the band tore the stage up, and when the stage was no use anymore, speaker stacks were scaled, barriers were jumped on, and crowds were surfed over. Throughout it all, the band delivered a faultless onslaught of techy/mathcore fury.

As their entertaining intro whirs into life with a compilation of songs relating to ‘love’ or having ‘Love’ in the name, you get the feeling that the headliners don’t take things too seriously. However, as they explode onto the stage and into the opener, “Lie Between The Lines,” nothing could be further from the truth. Utterly devastating, frontman Greg Puciato is itching to get off the stage and into the swirling pit of bodies and, at the first opportunity, speaks of his disappointment at the use of a barrier.

That being said, despite the gap between the band and the crowd, their show in Leeds is nothing short of all-out chaos from both parties. On stage, the band, led by Puciato, spit, stomp, swing and headbang through their set. “Become So Small” and “A White Horse Covered In Blood” continue the onslaught packed with jarring metallic hardcore riffs and huge punky grooves while Puciato continues to stalk around the stage, howling over the top.

Anybody who knows the history of this band should know that this is a match made in heaven for hardcore and punk rock fans. A musical Molotov cocktail of an experience, both of their former bands were known for their chaotic, unhinged shows, but putting the two together results in something truly beautiful in its savagery.

Check out Graham Finney’s photo gallery below and the Better Lovers setlist:

Better Lovers Setlist:

1. Lie Between the Lines
2. Sacrificial Participant
3. Your Misplaced Self
4. Become So Small
5. Superman Died Paralyzed
6. A White Horse Covered in Blood
7. Drowning in a Burning World
8. The Flowering
9. Two Alive Amongst the Dead
10. Future Myopia
11. At All Times
12. God Made Me an Animal
13. Love as an Act of Rebellion
14. 30 Under 13

I have an unhealthy obsession with bad horror movies, the song Wanted Dead Or Alive and crap British game shows. I do this not because of the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle it affords me but more because it gives me an excuse to listen to bands that sound like hippos mating.

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