The Band Agriculture: Their Album 'The Spiritual Sound' Review – Unabashedly Gorgeous Soundscapes from Blissful Extreme Metal Band
All the euphoria, spiritual ascent, and power in heavy sonic art radiates with blinding force from the second album by this self-described "ecstatic black metal" collective hailing from Los Angeles.
The Spiritual Sound pairs crushing weight with imaginative detailing. Lead single Bodhidharma propels along a guitar motif fit for a biker gang, then a blast of noise and screaming introduces a sad post-rock bridge section. The maligned art of the widdly-woo solo is spectacularly resurrected by axeman Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing here and on highlight Flea will have you floating in ecstasy – yet the gentle song the track Hallelujah features falling guitar notes played with childlike simplicity.
Songs such as Micah and the song Serenity are fast-paced punk rock, but the piece Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has glacial drone-metal 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 vibrant and innovative, and final track the song The Reply even recalls a more intense Radiohead.
Listeners who enjoy experimental metal acts similar artists will likely adore all this contrasting dynamics and unabashedly gorgeous noise, especially because Agriculture also feature two divergent vocal styles, split here across two vocalists. Dan Meyer adds occasional melodic vocals, but the star is the other vocalist, whose voice trembling on one track but fiercely howling elsewhere.
In typical black metal fashion, it's difficult to discern her lyrics, but they’re worth the effort: the stories she sings about personal struggles and social injustice are devastating, just like her quest for meaning in a world that inexorably bends towards conflict.
