Five years ago, Metasplice were travelling happily down their own dimly lit path. The Philadelphia duo were releasing tapes, files and EPs with the no-nonsense ethos of an act more interested in satisfying themselves than a hypothetical audience. Then they brushed up against club culture. Given how nasty their sound could be, you might've assumed most dance floors would recoil whenever, say, Objekt would drop "Buoyant Slight" in 2013. The meeting of America's avant-DIY noise diaspora and techno was much-feted at the time. Though the union seemed fertile, it was doomed to end sooner rather than later.  

This is because acts as freewheeling as Metasplice were always going to be hemmed in by techno's steady beat. As time passed, their awe-inspiring live shows moved further away from regular rhythm, but they still used it in small doses to devastating effect.