It was there that Butterfly Effect frontman Clint Boge bumped into guitarist Kurt Goedhart.

Five years earlier Boge had bitterly quit the Brisbane alt-rock four-piece citing a toxic and tense environment in the studio while recording their fourth album.

Goedhart and other members Glenn Esmond (bass) and Ben Hall (drums) opted to continue on with new vocalist Paul Galagher, but after one tour and a single The Butterfly Effect disbanded.

"It was very toxic in the band room right before I left," Boge reflects a decade later. "Mental health being such an important subject now, especially for men. At the time I really needed to take a break because we were in each other's faces for 12 years non-stop.

"We toured relentlessly and we were in the studio if we weren't touring. We were writing albums in the practice room, then touring Europe and America.

"I had to take the jump to leave the band, which was a tough decision, but my partner at the time said, 'who are you, what are you doing anymore?'

"I was neglecting the people who love me and the people I love to try and keep the band going."

But when Boge ran into Goedhart at the Dead Letter Circus gig, the iciness that once existed had thawed.

"We passed each other and kind of reached out at the same time to shake hands, and I just grabbed him and hugged him," Boge says.

"I said, 'mate what's been going on?' He told me he'd had some children, and told me about his partner and his life and I had a sense that we'd matured as people."

From there, Boge reconnected with Esmond and Hall and they organised a jam session. Within moments of ripping into Crave from their 2003 debut album Begins Here, it was clear to everyone that The Butterfly Effect magic was still alive.

"I always thought we were an OK band, but the fact we hadn't played together in five years and just smashed it out like that, I knew there was something in that," Boge says.

Five years later The Butterfly Effect are ready to release IV, their fourth album and first since 2008's Final Conversation Of Kings.

IV features two surviving tracks - Start Again and Visiting Hours - from the band's volatile studio sessions prior to Boge's exit, plus a host of fresh material written since their 2017 reformation.

The good news for long-term Butterfly Effect fans is the band haven't reinvented their sound. IV features the melodic vocals, crunching riffs and power chords, complicated drums and bass rhythms they built their reputation on since introducing themselves on their beloved self-titled EP in 2001.

Nil By Mouth channels early 2000s-era Marilyn Manson, Great Heights clings close to their Tool influence and the closing Visiting Hours features one of Boge's best vocals and a melodic Goedhart guitar riff.

"Everyone is getting on like a house on fire and the trust we have with each other and the whole dynamic has changed," Boge says. "It's the band I always wanted to be in, but never knew it until now."

For Boge there's also the common thread of time flowing through all the songs on IV. It's something all four members of The Butterfly Effect have felt as they've moved into middle age and taken a 14-year break between albums.

"Time is the most precious quantity we have, as well as our health," he says.

"I'm seeing a lot of stories of famous musicians and people dying, as we've read today with Johnny Farnham's cancer scare.

"That kind of stuff really rings true to me that time is one of the most precious quantities we have and we can't waste it.

"You should be making the most of what you got while you've got it."

Even after The Butterfly Effect reformed, there were self-doubts within the band that maybe their fan base had moved on.

Those doubts were quickly erased after their return show at Brisbane's The Triffid sold out in 10 minutes.

"There's definitely a fan base," Boge says.

"Everyone has stayed hella loyal, which is amazing. We're really grateful for that.

"It's a real community. That's why I love playing live and getting in front of people and that sense of community and belonging that you don't get anywhere else."

The Butterfly Effect release their album IV on Friday.