Album Review: Forest Swords - Engravings

Forest Swords
Engravings
Rating: Woof Daddy

On 2010's almost album length EP Dagger Paths, British producer Matthew Barnes expertly blurred the lines between electronic and organic music, seamlessly incorporating elements of house, dub, dubstep, folk, drone, and R&B. It was fascinating listening to how he put rhythms and sequences together, and how just as tracks seemed to verge on too repetitious, he was would slightly alter things to put focus on new or even lesser elements, changing your perspective as one walks around a sculpture. There has been nothing since that adventurous release until now, Barnes suffering through some almost permanent hearing problems (since rectified) and also the bold attempts at creating his music out in nature, which he reluctantly scrapped in favor of studio recording, but subsequently mixed out in the open. Not much has changed with Barnes' musical approach and outlook in those three years, his debut full length Engravings is essentially cut from the same mold, but Barnes' focus has become razor sharp and the way he mixes all the various elements together into a seamless whole is practically brilliant.

All of the tracks are built upon loops that gradually unfold, allowing you to hear their purpose, going in certain directions only to be pulled back from again, or driven against expectation, the lines between natural and electronic constantly blurred. Engravings is a deeply emotional and spiritual listen, taking you deep inside your head and thoughts; it is big music, and important music, but never less than grounded. You immediately feel tracks like "Thor's Stone" with its mournful synthetic drone loops, vocal snippets morphed and flayed into just another element, it all merging together with cavernous drums into a vast landscape of sound and vision;



"The Weight of Gold" brings together intertwined guitar play, drones, and manipulated vocals over intricate, martial drum loops;



"Gathering" is built off competing vocal samples that bump and grind against one another into their own manufactured rhythms and patterns, with Barnes' masterfully adding new elements until the track becomes something new and different with each passing minute;



while closing track "Friend, You Will Never Learn" perfectly captures in one track the mesmerizing nature of this sublime record, moving effortlessly from undulating drones into dense drum patterns and an almost funky bass line, unfolding with purpose and meaning over its lengthy 8+ minute run time. Choruses of sampled vocals emerge from the dubby mix, often seeking to overtake the mix, but always held in check. At the closing 2 minute mark, ghostly pianos and vocals play around one another until rising synth strings blend everything together and take the track into its inevitable conclusion.



While on other tracks, Barnes takes a more measured, subtle approach, drawing you in like spider to its web. "Onward"'s soft pushing clicks and rushes slowly unfurls around a quietly plucked guitar pattern before rippling into a string-sampled coda of innate gorgeousness;



"An Hour" feels almost Tim Hecker-ish with its sepulchral organ drones, but quickly is changed over with blasts of electronics, chimes, and chopped up vocal samples;



and "Anneka's Battle" clomps along on a blocky rhythm and psychedelic samples with singer Anneka's voice emerging in and out of the fog of sound.



On paper, Engravings sounds like a clinical listen, something too experimental to get one's hands around. But it is a testament to Barnes' considerable production skill that it never comes across like some thesis. While this is heady music, its base in organic sounds and feelings always speaks to the heart first. Engravings is a new experience with each listen, and fits and molds itself to your situation, location, and mood. It is the sound of the now, the past, and the future, and is one of the best albums of the year.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.