The United Kingdom's Dark Forest has followed a single guiding principle throughout their 20 years as a band: Create and play the music they enjoy. There are no delusions of grandeur, no scene ladder-climbing and no jumping on the latest trends. Dark Forest - founded and led by guitarist Christian Horton - has struck the subtle balance between following their creative whims and occasionally pushing the boundaries of their sound, which, over the course of a demo, three EPs and five long-players, have cemented their status as one of their home country's finest purveyors of traditional metal. Now with their 20th anniversary upon them, Horton, along with vocalist Josh Winnard, second guitarist Patrick Jenkins and drummer Adam Sidaway, are bringing out the five-song Ridge & Furrow EP to ring in the occasion. Ridge & Furrow features four new Dark Forest songs and a re-recording of longtime fan favorite, "Under the Greenwood Tree." The EP was created during Horton's unexpected downtime during the global pandemic and represents a broad swath of Dark Forest's sonic spectrum - the guitarist even sees it as a "condensed version" of a full-length that prompted the band to include a healthy variety of songs. Indeed Ridge & Furrow gathers and celebrates the band's ever-present and deft use of melody, epic song construction and heroic, anthemic choruses. And, the re-recording of "Under the Greenwood Tree" (initially heard on 2011's Dawn of Infinity) is the perfect nod to the band's past - a brilliant summation of the spirit of Dark Forest that now features vocals from Winnard and guitar playing from Jenkins.
