Forest Swords

Forest Swords creates music that feels like it was unearthed rather than recorded. It is a striking collision of organic textures and digital decay, where heavy, dub-influenced basslines meet brittle guitar loops and vocal samples that have been sliced and processed until they sound like forgotten languages. The sound is thick with atmosphere, often evoking the damp, grey landscapes of the Wirral peninsula, yet it maintains a sharp, rhythmic edge that draws from hip-hop and R&B.

What truly sets Matthew Barnes apart is his ability to make electronic music feel ancient and tactile. There is a physical weight to his production; the percussion often sounds like stone striking stone, and the reverb creates a sense of vast, hollowed-out spaces. It is music that occupies the 'uncanny valley' between the natural world and the machine, sounding both deeply human and completely alien at the same time.

For those new to his world, Engravings is the essential starting point. It perfectly captures his signature blend of outdoor field recordings and club-adjacent rhythms. It is the kind of record that demands your full attention, rewarding the listener with a sense of profound, slightly eerie wonder that lingers long after the final track fades.