Near Life Experience
Orange Pants, 2020
9/10
Listen to Near Life Experience
If I had to guess, I would have speculated that Crashdown Butterfly hail from Seattle, although they’re far from your average grunge friendly band who sent a demo to Sub Pop Records in 1993. Though they were a quartet on this recording, these days they’re a trio, this debut produces a very full sound where punk, hard-rock and even power-pop are embraced in their hard hitting versus reflective formula.
There’s just 4 tunes here, and each one makes an impression in its own right. “Blood Mars” starts the listen with some grungy guitar chugging as well sung vocals from Ira Merrill give it a thick yet melodic feel not unlike Soundgarden.
The following tracks are equally firm but tuneful, and include the thundering rock of “Near Life Experience (Hospital Scene Part 1)”, where an anthemic quality enters the furious but precise landscape, while “Loud As Lightning (Hospital Scene Part II)” benefits from calm moments of shimmering beauty in between the crunchy guitars and sing-along chorus.
“Waking Up (Hospital Scene Part III)” exits the listen with the most gentle tune, though there’s still traces of bristling rock amid the guitar solos and dynamic rhythm section that’s anchored by drummer Steve Gale.
The last 3 songs here are all concept tunes about a near death experience where the character dies from a drug overdose, enters another dimension, and then returns back to their body, and the well thought out storytelling aligns equally with the meticulously crafted music on this exceptional first effort.
Travels well with: Soundgarden- Badmotorfinger; Zilched- Doompop