On Oct. 3, Los Angeles black metal band Agriculture released their second full-length album titled, “The Spiritual Sound.” While the band self-identifies with the black metal label, it is worth noting that they preface this with the adjective “ecstatic.” Agriculture is not black metal in the sense that they worship second-wave Norwegian bands or throw pig’s blood onto their audience, nor does their record have the production value of a ham radio. Agriculture instead pulls from black metal’s shrieking vocals and frenetic riffage, the meticulous crafting of an atmosphere much unlike the undercurrent of evil (maybe more of an actual current) found in your Mayhem or Darkthrone albums. The album pulls the listeners in many directions, switching from genre to genre between songs, ensuring by the end of the pulling we’re all basically taffy– stretched, worn out but better off than we started.
The album pulls the listeners in many directions, switching from genre to genre between songs, ensuring by the end of the pulling we’re all basically taffy- stretched, worn out, but better off than we started.
In fact, Agriculture ventures so far into the avant garde and experimental realm with “The Spiritual Sound” that they have cited Alex G as an influence on the album, a comparison that gains footing upon listening to the softer songs on the record like “Dan’s Love Song” and “Hallelujah.” “Dan’s Love Song” and “The Reply” are particularly notable for their foray into the blackgaze genre. Heavy fuzz graces the soundscape and evokes other bands managed by their record label, The Flenser, such as Have a Nice Life and (formerly) Deafheaven (The Flenser is certainly one to watch, with upcoming releases such as “In the Earth Again” by Chat Pile that should be on the radar of any dark music enjoyer).
Though dipping their toes into several genres over the course of the new record, Agriculture never abandons the metal label, though it wears it differently– tracks like “Flea” and “Bodhidharma” have no shortage of hectic guitar solos sure to please a metal purist. But for a black metal band, listening to “The Spiritual Sound” certainly feels a lot like a blinding white sun, an ultraviolet beam straight through the skull. This record is unbelievably bright. There is an overwhelming sense of everything good and everything awful, and a violent purging of the latter. Agriculture is throwing a plate against the wall, real fine china and hearing it shatter. They’re letting you cry, cry hard, except everyone you love is there too. That warmth, or rather burning heat, is what has set this album apart from so many of their contemporaries. It possesses the kind of passion that reminds you that people will never be done creating art in the form of music, and if you think the era of good music is long gone, you simply aren’t looking in the right places– nothing sacred will ever be a Top 40 hit.
This record is unbelievably bright. There is an overwhelming sense of everything good and everything awful, and a violent purging of the latter. Agriculture is throwing a plate against the wall, real fine china, and hearing it shatter, or crying, crying hard, except everyone you love is there too, letting you cry.
The first single of the album, “Bodhidharma” was my first ever Agriculture song, and from the get-go, I was hooked. If you are to listen to any track in isolation, let it be this one. Feels like you’re gonna hurt forever, spoken in whispers, is followed by a sonic explosion of manic riffs and screams that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up. For what eventually became my most anticipated album of the year, The Spiritual Sound is all catharsis and ecstasy, and well worth the forty-three minute listen.
Photo courtesy of @agriculture_music on Instagram.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source muhlenbergweekly.com ’
