Agriculture: Their Album 'The Spiritual Sound' Review – Unabashedly Gorgeous Soundscapes from Ecstatic Black Metal Band

All the euphoria, transcendence, and power of heavy music bursts forth with blinding energy from the second album by this self-described "blissful black metal" collective based in Los Angeles.

This new album pairs immense heaviness with imaginative detailing. Lead single the song Bodhidharma propels along a riff suited to a biker gang, then a blast of noise and screaming heralds a melancholic post-rock bridge section. The often-criticized technique of the widdly-woo solo is spectacularly resurrected by axeman the lead guitarist, whose lead work on this track and on standout the song Flea will have you levitating with joy – but then the calm ballad Hallelujah features descending guitar melodies played with childlike simplicity.

Songs such as Micah and Serenity are fast-paced punk rock, while Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has glacial drone-metal distortion rumbling along underneath its ethereal beauty. Black metal melodies can often be absent or too complex, yet Agriculture’s riffs and hooks are bright and original, and closer the song The Reply even recalls a much heavier the band Radiohead.

Listeners who enjoy post-metallers similar artists will likely adore all this dynamic shifting and fearlessly beautiful sound, particularly since the group also feature two distinct singing approaches, split here across two vocalists. Dan Meyer contributes sporadic soulful, clean singing, but the star is Leah Levinson, whose voice trembling on Bodhidharma but splenetically caterwauling elsewhere.

As is common in the genre, it's difficult to discern the words she sings, but they’re worth seeking out: the narratives she conveys about personal struggles and anti-LGBTQ bigotry are devastating, just like her quest for meaning in a world that relentlessly trends towards violence.