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The Butterfly Effect is an Australian band that debuted in 2001 with a self-titled EP and then continued in 2003 with their first full-length album, titled "Begins Here." The music they offered was an alternative/nu-metal without fault or praise, with some excellent songs and many forgettable tracks. However, the album achieved a decent success in their home country.
Today, we talk about the second album, which was released three years later, in 2006, "Imago." It's a work almost entirely different from the previous, as the band abandons (and thankfully, I say) the nu influences to incorporate a sound leaning more towards progressive.
Let's be clear, mixing alternative and prog is not a new idea. Fellow countrymen Dredg and Cog, and Rishloo in the States, not to mention Tool, A Perfect Circle, or Soen (though the latter three bands are much more challenging and complex compared to the Australians, I don't know why, it's as if they have developed a sound all their own over there). But, although I highly appreciate the bands mentioned here, TBE manages to stand a notch above, perhaps on par with Tool, and now let's see why.
As you'll read if you check other reviews, the jewel in TBE's crown is the singer. Clint Boge is indeed an above-average singer, at least for those who appreciate singers who use very high tones and often falsetto, capable of creating introspective and personal lyrics, and then singing them with absolute emotion, making the emotions that shine through the lyrics dramatically palpable through his voice. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I really like his voice a lot, it's almost theatrical.
This absolutely doesn't mean that the band backing him is forgettable, quite the opposite. Kurt Goedhart is a respectable guitarist, capable of creating riffing that is never predictable and distorted arpeggios perfect to accompany Clint's emotional voice, and Ben Hall is an excellent drummer. And the bassist? After Boge, Glenn Esmond is the musician who impressed me the most, with bass lines that are always audible and, above all, technical and imaginative.
Moving on to the album, there isn't much to say, it's perfect. It starts with a small instrumental introduction (the title track) and then moves on to a series of wonderful songs, during which we will be transported into the world of The Butterfly Effect, and when Clint gets angry, we'll get angry, when he's sad, we'll die inside, and when he leaves space for his bandmates, we can enjoy excellent arrangements. I don't think there's ever a moment when the album dips, perhaps only in the hefty "In A Memory" (the only one exceeding 5 minutes) which may seem a bit repetitive, but we're talking about trivialities. An honorable mention goes to the lyrics, truly excellent, especially in episodes like "The End" and the beautiful "Reach," my favorite.
Last night I dreamt I had you with me
Close enough to feel you breathe
When I awoke I lay here empty
Cought between the want and need
My favorite songs are "This Year," "Reach," and "Before They Knew," which contain moments that will stay with you for quite some time. "A Slow Descent" is the only song that sticks upon first listen; for all the others, it will take more time, but it's worth it. In "Signs" and "Gone," we can best appreciate the work of the bass and guitar.
But that's enough, I won't go on further. This album should be a must-have for all lovers of rock or metal in its melodic sense. It's a shame they never left Australia (where this album reached second on the charts) and a shame that the third "Final Conversation Of Kings" is beautiful but does not reach the levels of this. But it's a shame above all that Clint left the band and they haven't released anything since.
Masterpiece, a must-have.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Perception Twin (03:44)
Push me over the edges…
Suffocating the senses
You strip me defenseless, I know you
Images reflected
I’m raped and molested, touched by you
Perception over reality
And what we see is not always what we see
Deeper inside
You’ll find your eyes lie, judge not this time
Alone
Distorted dreams in the silence
No vital signs just the violence
Tortured frame in the empty
Scars on my body just ghosts to remind me
I burn
Still reflection disturbs you
Twin perception unnerves you
Slit in two
Beautiful brutality
Self-inflicted these cuts my company
Opposite sides of this coin
Try both sides
I’m yours you’re mine
Alone
You scream like a symphony
Wicked trick has left me in agony
Your malfunction is needing
Vertical scars and proof of the bleeding
You burn
Your twin with you
Within the burning
I am your twin
With you within alone
03 Consequence (04:28)
Clutching my heart I can’t feel any more
Laughing to death as I fall to the floor
Irony cruel, calling my name
Suffer this consequence,
The shame you’ve given me
I still breathe
Your love sickness I savour like wine
Drilling down hard like a blade in my spine
Damaged nerve endings are feeding me, Raw
Thought patterns processed, I still can’t ignore your hate
Precious pain
Broken and bitter on the faces you tread
Left in your wake are the trails of the dead
Shape shifting sands move and twist undertow
No depth perception has made you shallow
Now I’m freezing for you
Burn alive
Wont stop now and still I try
I’m alive
Bleed if I want to
If i want to
if i want to
I'll bleed if i want to
Now and still I try
I’m alive
Frost bitten finger tips scratching my name
You’ve left me here to suffer the blame
Callously cruel is your punishment
Lies to deceive is this my consequence
Damage me, damage me, hate me to death
Cripple me, cripple me, there’s nothing left
Parasite poisonous left under skin
Slow self addiction no prize you will win
Now I’m freezing for you
Burn alive
Wont stop now and still I try
I’m alive
Bleed if I want to
If i want to
if i want to
I'll bleed if i want to
Now and still I try
I’m alive
Consequence
04 One Second of Insanity (02:22)
Damn you make up your mind
I pop a pill at a time
And you've got it crawling like my skin
When you don't wanna be found
You dig a hole in the ground
Choke down the filth you're living in
Is this the reason I've been low?
If this is wrong then let me go
It's a long way down
But you never listen
It's the wrong time now
But you never give in (yeah)
Smash your grip on control
For sale sign on your soul
Bite down, smile and take the pain
Pressure tested to break
What choice will you make?
One second or Infinity?
Is this the reason I've been low?
If this is wrong then let me go
It's a long way down
But you never listen
It's the wrong time now
But you never give in
Give me one second to breathe!
One second
One-one-one one second
One Second
One second
Is a long time now
But you never listen
It's the wrong way around
But you never give in
05 Crave (03:57)
When you crave
Hurts like slave
More the pain
Hold on when it feels like I only want you
And I'll bleed
Only for you
When you lie
Damaged
I crawl like flies
Hold on, when it feels like flies, oh, crawling their way through me cause I'm empty, I'm empty like you made me
When it burns like lies and all I want is you won't I but it hates me, it hates me like you hate me
yeah you do, crave
You
Me
Always and forever yeah
It's hard to be strong when I crave you like I do
Hold on,when it feels like flies I'm only waiting you want me down but I'm empty, I'm empty like you made me
When it burns like lies and all I want is you won't I but it hates me, it hates me like you HATE ME
11 Overwhelmed (03:30)
You’ve got me crawling out of a hole in the ground now
Pick me up, dust me off and then you push me around again
I watch you hit/kick, with the hatred you strike
Shamed to smile, broken teeth then you turn out the lights on me
I know why you want to hurt me so bad
You didn’t mean to hurt me so bad
But you did
Now that you’ve got your hand tightly gripped around my throat
Broken back shortest straw and I’m beginning to choke
I’m sorry for the blood, these stains won’t come out,
Can’t you see what you’ve done, what you did, what you’ve done to me?
Why are you hurting me?
Only you know
When you hit me again I know you
What you do? You did it to me,
When you hit me again I know you
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