The Butterfly Effect – Imago
This is the second full release record from the four piece act from Down Under, The Butterfly Effect. Their first release, Begins Here (2002), put the band on the scene in Australia, and has sold in excess of 35,000 copies globally. The hit single Crave, off Begins Here, quickly drew the attention to all rock fans across Australia, and from there on sell out gig’s and much anticipation for the next release has followed.
A Slow Descent, the first single from Imago, has been doing well in the charts here in Australia, and other tracks have had plenty of air time on the radio across the nation. Aus radio station Triple J reviewed the album in detail, the first weekend the album was released. Each song got a decent amount of time on air, and sparked listeners from around the country to race in and grab the CD. Like myself, listeners would of heard A Slow Descent before any other track of the album, and would of instantly jumped out of their armchair in search of their car keys. The Butterfly Effect are back, and in a big way, and here is the review of Imago…
The album kicks off with the title track Imago, a creative little piece lasting close to a minute and half, with haunting bass riffs from Glenn and picking of the guitar, along with Ben coming in with a tribal drum beat. No vocals in this track, but its a good start to the album, with a sense of adventure from the out set. A soft ending to the track, and from there comes the next tune, Aisles Of White. A peaceful start to the song kicks the track off, with Clints magical voice joining in. The rest of the guys then launch into the track, with a burst of energy from Ben behind the kit and Glenns bass. The song pulls itself along, and gives you a taste of anticipation. It leaps into the chorus, with Clint in prime form with his singing. ‘Im waiting for something, Im waiting for someone to arrive’ he lets out – by now you can’t help but feel this track is based on someone special. A crafty riff is then derived from Kurts guitar – although it may be short, it is still a major highlight of the song. For me personally, Aisles Of White would have to be one of my favourite tracks off the album – the band complement each other well through out the song.
Gone, is the next track brought forward to the listener. Gone has had a fair amount of air time on radio, and has been labelled as one of the low points on the album. Though I think differently. A stuttery opening to the song, which repeats itself through out the song – showing a little bit of variety. Its a song that goes places, hence the word Gone. The chorus is one of the most gripping Ive heard from an Australian band, and again the guys all complement each other perfectly through out the four and a bit minute masterpiece. Some may call it a Over-produced track – but I call it Daringly Differently, and it’s something B.E should do more of.
Here we go… I think all Australians are in love with this song. A Slow Descent. From Bens simple, yet effective opening from behind the kit, to Kurts ripping guitar – Just admit it, we all have a soft spot for this song!. For me this is Kurts song, he really owns this track with his classy hard rocking guitar riffs you hear through the whole track – complete with that insane solo in the middle of that track. The lyrics to match this song are close to perfect in my eyes. Heres a look at the chorus lyrics…
Over Out
Its all over out
It’s A slow decay
You’ll never be alone…
The song draws to an end with a beautiful ending that last for close to 30 seconds. The ending in itself is one of the high points of the whole CD, let alone the track. For me, it is the best numbers on the whole album, and nothing comes even close to knocking it off.
Reach is the very next song to follow, and begins with a superlative intro which is a pleasure to listen to. The group then settle into a typically hard rocking yet classy verse. Clint again lets rip that suffocating voice of his, and has the nation at his feet. Though throughout the song the guys let Clint take over too much, and they let themselves down and pretty much just fiddle around with their instruments and let Clint run the show, which B.E is not about. Still, another top notch song, brought about from Clint’s beauty filled voice and lyrics. Imago then dives into Before They Knew, with some interesting instrumentation, capped off with Glenn’s bass line. BTK travels through a few verses and so on before it then races into a captivating chorus, and then releases some pressure and mallows out again, before one last ditch effort in which involves all the guys thrashing around and matching each others top musical level.
A placid yet trippy bass line opens the next track, In A Memory. The longest song on the album, that walks you up and down different paths, showing off their skill’s as top musicians. They are at it again, bonding and complementing each other in the music. Then, they go somewhere vastly different and try a few things to entice you to listen on to this emotional rollercoaster like song. It really does draw you in and throw’s you around. After a brief silence, a patchy and picky guitar riff kicks in, to the next track, This Year. After the opening, they really do go bizarre and really just muck up the skill of Kurt, and throw in a weird bass pattern and jazz like drum beat we could of done without. They re-capture themselves though with a nice sounding chorus, and some Danny Carey imitating from Ben at the end of the first chorus. They venture around quite a bit in this track, and don’t really settle on any real typical thunderous ending and the song just fizzes itself out. For me, probably the only downside to the album. It’s a piece of work, sure. But how did this get on the album is mind blowing to me.
A simple 4/4 drum beat and steady bass line head into the next song on the album, Signs. An easy track to listen to, and they take their time and play restrictedly so they don’t overplay and mess up a great tune. A brutal and powerful chorus then appears, where they can let it all out and make their statement. A fairly basic song as far as B.E goes, until all hell breaks lose and Kurt hammers into one of those classic guitar riff’s of his, just to add a bit of spark. They follow each other around, in that a basic song structure is used and ends on a nice note. A song I don’t mind listening to at all, would be Everybody Runs, the track to follow Sign’s. The foundation for this song, is the murky intro and the loud and proud chorus. Again, a song that captures the listener, and gives you a sense of comfort when you can relate to the lyrics. A very emotional song, that you can tell Clint really enjoyed doing as he puts everything into it, and does himself proud. Again, Ben plays an important part in this song, and plays it to perfection – not overdone, and not under. End is the final instalment to Imago, and for me is a great track to end on. It sums up the whole disc well, and I keep coming back to this point I know, but they once again complement each other well.
Overall – For others, you could just go and buy this song purely based on your love for A Slow Descent. There is more to this album then you realise. You get a good variety of everything you could expect and more from the guys, and is an album worth having in your CD stack. There isn’t really much more to say, just go out, buy it, play it, and listen to it. There are very few lows in this album, and if you’re a muso like me and take your time listening to it you will relate yourself well to the music. After Begins Here, I wondered what they could come up with to follow. I knew it would be good whatever it was going to be, but for many hard rockers that liked Begins Here they could find themselves completely in love with A Slow Descent and no other tracks off this album, but I can’t stress enough to take your time with this album. If your knew to The Butterfly Effect, go out and get Begins Here first, then follow up with this album.
Also, I’ve heard guys compare these guys to Tool. And I myself can say the same thing, if you like Tool, you will like The Butterfly Effect. What is it you might say?. It’s a balance of complementing each other, playing the music to perfection and high skill level. I’ve also heard other say this album is over-produced – that can’t be further from the truth. I feel they complete each song well and do a fantastic job, and if anything really send a message out to those guys that say they overproduce. Well done The Butterfly Effect – you’ve done yourselves proud (in my eyes!).
Overall Score – 4/5.
The Butterfly Effect are…
Vocals: Clint Boge
Guitar: Kurt Goedhart
Bass: Glenn Esmond
Drums: Ben Hall
This is my second review, and a long time since my first. Any feedback is welcome. Just to note, this review was done in one hour. No draft, just listening to the CD and a quick write up. I’m in a bit of a hurry this evening! Cheers guys.
