Review Summary: Forest Drive West continues to prove why he is one of the top producers in modern electronic music.
It’s a pretty hard task for me to put electronic music into words. This type of music, to me, is based more on feelings and vibes than genres like metal or hip-hop or anything of the sort. The way that I vibe with electronic, techno in particular, has always been hard for me to muster up the correct words. Over the past couple of years, I've really been diving headfirst into this style of music and it really has me by the balls. Forest Drive West has been one of my favorite discoveries thus far, with his debut album,
Apparitions, completely blowing me away with the seamless combination of ambient, acid/minimal techno and UK bass. I tend to veer towards artists that give off a minimalistic approach when it comes to techno and ambient in general and his brand new album,
Mantis 1920 is really the perfect example of everything I love in this style of music.
Each and every track has underlying basslines that aren't too in your face while still providing a danceable quality to the music. The overall atmosphere is light and airy and you really have to pay attention to what you're listening to or you might miss out on something spectacular. Most techno that I dig is rather cold and dark-sounding, but Forest Drive West makes his music to be almost weightless. It gives you vibes of floating in the clouds all the while bobbing your head and making you want to bust a move. It's like he took what he did on the debut and turned it up to one hundred with the overall atmosphere and feelings that it gives you. The UK bass influences really take a backseat and are subtle, but like I mentioned, you really have to pay attention to hear those sick basslines throughout the album. The ambience is so cheerful and rather nostalgic, giving the listener many tracks to sink their teeth into.
Obviously, I find it hard to put this type of music into words. It's difficult for me to convey exactly what I'm feeling into review form, but this record is just too damn good for someone NOT to speak on it. If you like your electronic music a bit more on the vibrant and warm side,
Mantis 1920 will definitely be something that you want to dive into headfirst. It's minimalistic without being boring at all and this kind of stuff doesn't always have to be dark and brooding. Forest Drive West went eight years in between full-length albums before the release of this one and I, for one, hope it doesn't take him that long again. He is one of the driving forces in modern electronic music, in my personal opinion, and the more we get, the better.
