Autumn of 2022 marked 20 years since the initial release of Metro Area’s first and only album, Metro Area. Environ had already remastered and re-released this essential LP for its 15th anniversary. So, this time around, the label is doing something a bit different. To celebrate two decades of Metro Area, Environ has partnered with renowned mastering engineer Matt Colton (Metropolis Studios) to remaster and recut the first four Metro Area 12″s: Metro Area, Metro Area 2, Metro Area 3, and Metro Area 4. Unlike the album reissue, these records include the original, extended 12″ versions of all songs, including some which have never been re-released. Metro Area is the duo’s first 12″ EP, originally released in 1999.

They naturally gravitated towards extended dubs of songs—full of strange mistakes and echoing backing tracks—instead of the better-known vocal versions. Lacking the big budgets and gear that made so many of their favorite classic records come together, they were forced to take a guerrilla approach. They reprogrammed their techno-oriented arsenal of secondhand synths and samplers, using novel digital recording technology to capture live instrumentation and prioritizing mood over hooks, and the resulting music was just wrong enough to sound unlike anything else being released at the time.

After just four underground 12″ releases, the duo—now well-known as Metro Area—released their first and only album, Metro Area, in the fall of 2002. Fifteen years later, it’s time to celebrate the culmination of their shared history and inspiration once again.