What intrigued me so much about Saves the Witch when I started to dig deeper into this art rock project was their ability to combine styles of experimental, instrumental, and artful hard rock metal/lo-fi infusions. From the opening chords of ‘Time is a Construct’, which starts off ominous and brooding before crescendoing into something heavy, thrashing and compounding, you understand the sheer power and depth that Sounds from a Burning Forest is going to be.
Undeniably, there’s a late night vibe to the entire record. It’s the kind of 2am introspective music that you wouldn’t immediately fathom, but somehow would seem appropriate to enter some kind of flow state where you let the constant variation of moods, emotions, and powers take you where it may. The absolute crashing power of ‘Suicide by Idle Hands’, which is heavy, gritty, and electric has you almost venting your anger before its final section which sees a more mellow transition into something more subtle and euphoric lets you achieve some sense of clarity. Instrumental music to me is all about letting the music take you where it may, it’s merely a guided tour not an instructive one. When you have lyricism, you let the artist dictate the journey to a degree. But when the sounds are left alone, you have that open ended clarity to let it move where it may.
‘Sounds From a Burning Forest’ is fairly constant in its approach, allowing your own emotive to side to flourish as the ebbs and flows of its heavy and mellow flow seamlessly.