Glass Swords is the debut studio album by Scottish producer Russell Whyte under his alias of Rustie, released by Warp in 2011.

[4][1] To give the album an analogue sound, Whyte used compressors and tape distortion plugins to get the tracks what he described as a "sort of warmth".

[1] These tracks were sent back and forth between himself and Warp which Whyte described as a "long process" as he found it difficult having people critique the music he wanted to release.

[4] Several tracks originally planned for the album were described by Whyte as "a lot weirder and more ambient", but that Warp "didn't really want that".

Spin opined that Glass Swords' music "doesn't adhere to any strict definition of genre beyond loose electronic".

[1] A reviewer for Fact described the influences of the album as being from video games, progressive rock and "big room dance music".

"[9] These included "glossy synths", dirty south hip hop percussion and "fragments of dubstep, UK garage, classic Detroit techno and trance music".

[9] AllMusic shared the multiple genres view, finding that it integrated "the currently hip and terminally unhip – garish probes of '80s synth rock, beaten-to-a-pulp dance-pop, '90s rave, and bass music, to name four of several drawing points.

"[3] MTV noted the pop culture references in Glass Swords, namely "Hover Traps" samples the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the title of "Ultra Thizz" references Bay Area slang for the drug ecstasy.

[15][16] A launch party for Glass Swords was held on 1 October 2011,[17] which included a performance from Rustie along with DJ sets from Darkstar, Nightwave and Spencer.

[18][19] In 2012, a re-worked version of the song "After Light" was released with Aluna Francis, the singer for United Kingdom-based R&B group AlunaGeorge, providing the vocals.

[22] Pitchfork stated that "One of the best things about Glass Swords is that, for all of its pop-goes-clubbing bluster, it's also as psychedelic, where the devil's in the zillion little details zigzagging across the tracks" and that "there's not a lot here that will redefine your ideas of what dubstep or electronic music in general can do.

"[11] The BBC described Whyte's music as "a little difficult to handle" but that the album "shows just the right amount of restraint to prevent total disarray.

"[33] Reflecting on the album in 2014, Whyte stated that he felt that he "went kind of quite crazy on Glass Swords" and that he was "taking the piss with kitsch sounds and over-the-top silliness".