Review Summary: It does what a perfect comeback should do and acts like a decade never happened.
Aussie progressive rock/alt metal band The Butterfly Effect makes a return after a 14-year absence of releasing new music (excluding the B-Sides & Rarities compilation album released in 2016). So, after such a long hiatus, a promise of a follow up to Final Conversation of Kings (released in 2008), personal issues between band members, a worldwide shutdown, and a self-released brand of good Aussie beer; why was this worth all the wait?
Before mentioning anything about the album I need to clarify this is my most anticipated release of the year since this is one of my favorite bands and their music marked me deeply growing up. With that said, they are part of a bigger scope of Australian bands that popped up during the early 2000’s along with Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus and Cog, to name a few. And just like those other bands TBE managed to get American press and did well on the charts. Moreover, all three albums, the debut Begins Here, the sophomore release Imago, as well as their third release Final Conversation of Kings managed to get certified gold in Australia.
When lead singer Clint Boge decided to part ways from the band because of “personal and creative differences” in 2012 it was very unexpected since during those times the band was already teasing a yet unreleased song called “Five Golden Rings”. Very soon afterwards the band recruited another singer named Paul Galagher and released only one song also featuring Flynn Gower of the band Cog. At this point in time the days with Boge seemed like they were over.
Browsing music on YouTube I happened to stumble across a b-side of theirs called “Landslide” and I wrote to Clint Boge asking where I could purchase the song. He kindly pointed out that it was a song available exclusively for pre-orders of Final Conversation of Kings on iTunes. To my surprise, at least a year later the band announced they would be releasing a B-Sides & Rarities album for fans (I like to think I had something to do with it). Anyways, it wasn’t until the band announced in 2018 that they would be reforming and touring again that fans immediately thought about the possibility of the long anticipated fourth album.
IV, very lazily but aptly titled, sees the band combining the alternative metal sound from their self-titled EP and Begins Here with the more progressive tinges of their latter material. After setting the mood with a quasi-instrumental ambient title-track, “Dark Light” kicks off with a chorus that could easily fit anywhere on Imago and a neat bassline courtesy of Glenn Esmond. The song has a perfect balance of a rawer sound but retaining the melodies that only Clint Boge can deliver the way he does. “Wave of Ties” follows with soaring vocals from Boge and ends up being one of his best performances overall. The band also fires on all cylinders here; Kurt Goedhart provides more standard metal riffs which contrast the more dynamic middle section of Ben Hall and Glenn Esmond, and then heads towards a very climactic ending. It is a very energetic song and it’s one the best of the album.
This use of melody with rawer moments on the verses carries through some of the other songs like the slow burner “The Other Side”, which ends up being one of Ben’s best moments carrying the song with a very simple but effective drum pattern. “Great Heights”, arguably the best song on the album, offers another excellent vocal performance, a groovy bass riff in the verses and a wavy guitar riff in the pre-chorus that switches a more aggressive riff after the chorus. This high energy dynamism gives the band a breath of fresh air, especially compared to the more contemplative past two albums. “Visiting Hours” sounds like classic TBE and is reminiscent of one of the more tranquil prog ballads from Final Conversation of Kings.
There are some minor quibbles, though, oddly focused on the singles; the band rethreads to more familiar territory in “Nil by Mouth” and sees them heading towards nu metal, and even though it isn’t necessarily bad it is less interesting than what they do in most of the songs. “So Tired” shares an early 2000’s post-grunge sound, but this time around the song deviates into a more interesting atmospheric and progressive latter half. Both tracks also contain on-the-nose social/political commentary, which is unusual to find in a Butterfly Effect release. On the flipside, though, these tracks manage to bring even more variety to the mix and never feel disjointed.
What is truly impressive about this album is that it could have gone totally wrong; The band had a very steady and logical progression from album to album and Final Conversation… was the culmination of that, so IV could have easily break the band. In contrast, they delivered a flawlessly produced fresh take on their sound following their prog tendencies from their latter two albums while amping up in the aggression. It does what a perfect comeback should do and acts like a decade never happened delivering exactly what longtime fans would expect from them with a modern twist. The band teased for more material after this release, and I certainly hope there’s more in the tank there, but even if this was a one-time thing, I’d say fans will be very pleased with what they got. So, sip on that amplified ale and enjoy. Cheers, mates!
