Philadelphia's electronic duo Metasplice blended techno and noise on the
cassette MS I/II (Injections Limited, 2012).
That was the method pursued on the four-song EP Topographical Interference (Morphine, 2012), in particular in Buoyant Slight.
The single Decant/ Churn (2012) perfected the idea, the former a spiraling dancefloor snake (with little noise) and the latter a slot-machine wed to an interstellar signal (lots of noise).
The double-LP Infratracts (Morphine, 2013) stands as their manual
of how to weave creative dance beats with disturbing, dissonant noise.
Each piece is propelled by a vividly organic electronic pulsation.
They are not beats: they are heartbeats (of some mysterious creatures).
Arterial Protocol combines a pounding industrial beat and sharp drones that cut through it.
The muscular beat of Prismatic Sway is pierced by metallic wailing that evokes a state of alienation.
The booming pneumatic percussions of Novaglide collide with
dissonant extraterrestrial lounge music in a crescendo of hysterical ugliness.
On the other hand, Dioxinition is just a symphony of beats, polyrhythms from hell's factory.
The bouncing synth tones of Cylindrics finds the unlikely intersection of techno and Morton Subotnick's musique concrete.
The dense and multi-layered Concrode feels like millions of crickets attacking a dying supernova and dwarfing the murky voices of ghostly Tibetan monks.
The album ends with the most exuberant piece, IV Phenol, that feels like
an electrocuted form of foxtrot and ends in a wall of white noise.
The single Vertia/ Tiled Eighths (2014)
contains two nine-minute compositions:
the former inspired by minimalist repetition, the latter masterfully sculpted around a dripping sound.
They further twisted and warped the beats on the double-LP Metasplice (Bruxist, 2015)
to allow themselves more room for abstract soundpainting.
Each of the four sides is divided into two compositions.
A1 and C2 search for new ways to channel beats into the bloodstream, beats that aim for the brain rather than the legs.
D2 explores a dark space between African tribal dances and Pink Floyd's early psychedelic journeys like Interstellar Overdrive.
The frenzied and distorted B1 and especially
the loud chaotic and seismic C1 opt for a visceral approach,
while the slow dripping of A2 and the
fluctuating interstellar signal of B2
aim for a state of hypnosis before unveiling their rhythmic energy.
Abandoning the beat altogether, D1 is pervaded by massive and jarring drones.
The overall effect is aking to shock therapy.
After a long hiatus, Metasplice returned with Mirvariates (Trilogy Tapes, 2018), a purely abstract noisescape that dispenses with the dance beats.
The slow abrasive torture Vase Weight Re-Route is superficial compared
with the calm demolition process of Subaltic Render, and both are
naive and primordial compared with the
alien ear-splitting hiss of Speculen, musique concrete at its most
psychological.
The EP Sapphrine Extent (2020) contains the 19-minute
Karstremics, a collage of electronic sounds in the vein of Stockhausen.
Moonraker was an offshoot that released EPs such as
M_type (2012)
Remota Instruere (2013)
Lowjit Vagrants (2013)
and Refracuity (2014)
followed by the cassette Aver (2015)
