All of the euphoria, transcendence and power of heavy music emanates with blinding force from the second album by this self-described “ecstatic black metal” band from Los Angeles.
The Spiritual Sound pairs crushing weight with imaginative detailing. Lead single Bodhidharma rides a riff fit for a biker gang, then a burst of static and screaming heralds a sad post-rock middle eight. The maligned art of the widdly-woo solo is spectacularly resurrected by guitarist Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing here and on highlight Flea will have you levitating with joy – but then the calm ballad Hallelujah features falling guitar notes played with childlike simplicity.
Micah (5.15.am) and Serenity are high-speed hardcore punk, but Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has glacial Sunn O)))-style distortion rumbling underneath its dream-pop loveliness. Black metal melodies can often be either nonexistent or overly fussy, but Agriculture’s riffs and hooks are bright and original, and closer The Reply even recalls a much heavier Radiohead.
Fans of post-metallers Deafheaven will probably love all this dynamic shifting and unabashedly gorgeous noise, particularly since Agriculture also have two divergent vocal styles, split here across two vocalists. Dan Meyer adds occasional soulful, clean singing, but the star is Leah Levinson, her voice trembling on Bodhidharma but splenetically caterwauling elsewhere.
In typical black metal fashion, it’s hard to make out her lyrics, but they’re worth seeking out: the stories she sings about suicidal friends and anti-LGBTQ bigotry are devastating, as is her quest for meaning in a world that inexorably bends towards violence.
