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Brad is an OzProg founder, a passionate supporter of Aussie music, and OzProg's resident techy-nerd-slash-editor.
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Tom Binetter is a guitarist in sleepmakeswaves, a Sydney band with unprecedented global appeal. He discusses with OzProg their imminent appearance at Melbourne's Prog Fest and releasing a split CD with Perth friends Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving.
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The Butterfly Effect - Final Conversation Of Kings
Contributed by Bradley Dixon
Final Conversation
Of Kings
Of Kings
With each successive release, Brisbane's The Butterfly Effect take subtle steps away from their earliest work. Where the self-titled EP of 2001 was rooted in straight-forward alternative rock and Begins Here was much of the same, Imago took a turn towards texture and melody rather than pure balls.
Their latest foray, Final Conversation Of Kings, continues this trajectory away from heaviness, but to my ears they've overshot their mark and lost what put them among Australia's finest in the first place. Imago lathered a delicious icing of softer, more melodically tuned loveliness upon a solid cake base of modern Australian rock. Final Conversation Of Kings is all icing, no cake.
It's an ambitious record, and it's obvious they're not beholden to anyone's wishes but their own—and, perhaps, those of their producer. Their first "official" collaboration with production wunderkind Forrester Savell (Imago was written and demoed with Savell's input before being recorded in the U.S. with Joe Barressi), it has all the hallmarks of his work.
Known for helping bands push their own boundaries and develop under-utilised aspects of their sound in his work with Dead Letter Circus and Sleep Parade, Savell has further pushed The Butterfly Effect to try new things.
Cameo appearances by a synth and muted trumpet signifies this attitude to continually improve and mature their sound through experimentation, used to great effect in the Muse-influenced opening track "Worlds On Fire", but sadly it's not enough to keep the album from feeling like Imago with a lobotomy.
To be fair, there are moments of the sheer brilliance we've come to expect from The Butterfly Effect, like the poppy first single "The Window And The Watcher", with its slow-building intensity and epic finale. "Room Without A View", too, will surely take its place among The Butterfly Effect's live favourites.
The singing is another highlight. Clint Boge has long been lauded for his versatile vocals and the ability to swing from operatic heights to aggressive depths with ease, and while his voice is not the focus it was on Imago, he does a lot to enhance his reputation. Wisely, his voice is mostly no longer hidden behind distortion and that bloody megaphone effect, allowing it space to breathe.
But amongst this killer is a disheartening amount of filler. "...And The Promise Of Truth" is built upon a bitchin' reggae groove, but doesn't move anywhere. "Sum Of 1", the album's finale, seems unfinished. "Rain" begins positively with a jumping, chugging guitar riff and crisp, cymbal-heavy drumming, but the chorus is so middle-of-the-road—so easy—that it kills the track.
One of the most tried-and-true methods I use to determine whether an album will stand the test of time is to ask myself, "if I were in the mood to hear this band, which album would I go for?".
Whenever I'm in the mood for the The Butterfly Effect, I either want to hear the straight-forward heavy rock—in which case I'll go for Begins Here— or I feel like their more melodic fare, in which case Imago is perfect. With those two bases covered, I'm not quite sure where Final Conversation Of Kings lies, and I can't see it getting much of a workout.
Final Conversation Of Kings is out now through Roadshow Music. You can hear The Butterfly Effect on their MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/thebutterflyeffectau.
It's an ambitious record, and it's obvious they're not beholden to anyone's wishes but their own—and, perhaps, those of their producer. Their first "official" collaboration with production wunderkind Forrester Savell (Imago was written and demoed with Savell's input before being recorded in the U.S. with Joe Barressi), it has all the hallmarks of his work.
Known for helping bands push their own boundaries and develop under-utilised aspects of their sound in his work with Dead Letter Circus and Sleep Parade, Savell has further pushed The Butterfly Effect to try new things.
Cameo appearances by a synth and muted trumpet signifies this attitude to continually improve and mature their sound through experimentation, used to great effect in the Muse-influenced opening track "Worlds On Fire", but sadly it's not enough to keep the album from feeling like Imago with a lobotomy.
To be fair, there are moments of the sheer brilliance we've come to expect from The Butterfly Effect, like the poppy first single "The Window And The Watcher", with its slow-building intensity and epic finale. "Room Without A View", too, will surely take its place among The Butterfly Effect's live favourites.
The singing is another highlight. Clint Boge has long been lauded for his versatile vocals and the ability to swing from operatic heights to aggressive depths with ease, and while his voice is not the focus it was on Imago, he does a lot to enhance his reputation. Wisely, his voice is mostly no longer hidden behind distortion and that bloody megaphone effect, allowing it space to breathe.
But amongst this killer is a disheartening amount of filler. "...And The Promise Of Truth" is built upon a bitchin' reggae groove, but doesn't move anywhere. "Sum Of 1", the album's finale, seems unfinished. "Rain" begins positively with a jumping, chugging guitar riff and crisp, cymbal-heavy drumming, but the chorus is so middle-of-the-road—so easy—that it kills the track.
One of the most tried-and-true methods I use to determine whether an album will stand the test of time is to ask myself, "if I were in the mood to hear this band, which album would I go for?".
Whenever I'm in the mood for the The Butterfly Effect, I either want to hear the straight-forward heavy rock—in which case I'll go for Begins Here— or I feel like their more melodic fare, in which case Imago is perfect. With those two bases covered, I'm not quite sure where Final Conversation Of Kings lies, and I can't see it getting much of a workout.
Final Conversation Of Kings is out now through Roadshow Music. You can hear The Butterfly Effect on their MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/thebutterflyeffectau.