Puerta Negra
Metafísica
Oraculo Records
The Portland duo of María Aguirre and Mark Arciaga have been away from both the road and the studio just long enough to build up a proper jones for new Puerta Negra material, and as another angry summer settles in the timing for a blast of their toxic-neon throwback EBM couldn’t be better. Six track EP Metafísica adds a couple of new angles to the duo’s spastic movements, but the core combination of grooves and bile remain the same.
On the off-chance that you’re an ID:UD reader who hasn’t yet cottoned on to the work Puerta Negra have charted out on their previous two EPs, Metafísica takes no time at all to introduce the program. Opener “Vetana Cerrade” tosses you right into the duo’s contemporary read on classic mutant EBM, with brightly harmonic programming, augmented by alternately funky and stabbing grooves connoting classic PorCon and Cabs. “Explosión Cósmica” shows just how heavy and aggressive Puerta Negra can be when the funk in that formula is tightened up and the percussion made brisker.
A couple of lesser heard flourishes make their way into Metafísica‘s mix while still feeling properly in the band’s pocket. The groove and funk is set aside on the Teutonic, clanging staccato stomp of “Complejo de Victima” which recalls Nitzer Ebb and their anhalt disciples, while closer “Ojo de Aguja” hearkens back to slightly more broader club sounds, with early Detroit techno and possibly even the murk of new beat being conjured by the interplay between hazy pads and tightly pinched leads. Throughout all that there’s never a moment’s doubt as to whom you’re listening, though; Arciaga’s gutteral bark augments Aguirre’s acidic yowl which has given Puerta Negra its signature since their first recordings saw release on Detriti in early 2022.
Speaking of vocals, even if like this Canadian your Spanish is too weak to track much in the way of lyrics, it’s not hard to get a sense of their tone if not direct literal meaning just by context. A sample, presumably conjuring the Red Scare in the 50s, which ask “who and what are the enemies of freedom?” reads quite differently in the age of ICE than in its presumptive context. Whether confronting the enemy at home or abroad, it feels damn good to have Puerta Negra back in the fight.
