Forest Drive West is Joe Baker, and Mantis 1920 finds him back on Delsin’s Mantis series with eight tracks that move between drum and bass pressure and techno’s colder discipline. The production is spare but physical, built from tight kicks, clipped percussion, low-end weight and carefully placed space. Some tracks slow things right down into dub-heavy drum patterns, while others push into crisp, technical breakbeat. There’s also a loose dancehall swing in the rhythm, though Baker never lets the reference take over the music.
The album’s range works because the details stay consistent. “Latent” and “Circuit” establish the measured pulse, “Uromastyx” brings Patrick Russell into a rougher, faster exchange, and “Plane”, made with DB1, closes on a restless breakbeat cut. Baker has been releasing under the Forest Drive West name since 2016, with early records on Livity Sound, Rupture and Hidden Hawaii, and this second Mantis release feels like a focused extension of that work rather than a change of direction. It’s a good fit for anyone after club music with room around the drums, especially if drum and bass, dub techno and restrained sound design appeal more than big drops or obvious hooks.
