The Band Agriculture: Their Album 'The Spiritual Sound' Review – Unabashedly Gorgeous Noise from Ecstatic Black Metal Band
All the euphoria, spiritual ascent, and intensity in heavy sonic art radiates with blinding energy from the second album by this self-described "ecstatic black metal" ensemble hailing from Los Angeles.
The Spiritual Sound pairs immense heaviness with imaginative detailing. Lead single the song Bodhidharma rides a riff fit for a biker gang, before a blast of noise and shrieking heralds a sad post-rock middle eight. The often-criticized technique of the virtuosic guitar solo is brilliantly revived by guitarist Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing here and on highlight the song Flea will have you floating in ecstasy – yet the gentle song Hallelujah showcases descending guitar melodies played with youthful innocence.
Tracks like Micah (5.15.am) and Serenity are fast-paced hardcore punk, but Dan’s Love Song is without percussion and has glacial drone-metal fuzz rumbling along underneath its dream-pop loveliness. Black metal melodies can often be either nonexistent or overly fussy, but Agriculture’s guitar lines and choruses are vibrant and innovative, and closer the song The Reply even recalls a much heavier the band Radiohead.
Listeners who enjoy experimental metal acts similar artists will probably love all this contrasting dynamics and fearlessly beautiful sound, especially because the group also feature two divergent vocal styles, split here across two singers. One vocalist adds sporadic soulful, clean singing, but the star is the other vocalist, her voice trembling on Bodhidharma but fiercely howling elsewhere.
As is common in the genre, it’s hard to make out her lyrics, but they’re worth seeking out: the narratives she sings about suicidal friends and social injustice are devastating, as is her search for meaning in a world that inexorably bends towards violence.
