I love The Spiritual Sound of ecstatic black metal by the band Agriculture.
But I didn’t always. It took me a long time to come around to it, despite the fact that this band has been getting rave reviews right from the jump. Their 2023 self-titled debut confounded me at almost every turn. It was certainly inventive, and quite literally unlike anything I had ever heard before, but not always in the way that I wanted it to be. Too busy, too much going on, but flashes of absolute brilliance shone through in a way that hooked me. I felt in my gut that I needed to hang on a little longer, that if I stuck with it I would be rewarded. To be fair to Agriculture, this is the same feeling I had the first time I listened to Sunbather, perhaps one of the finest records made this millennium, and Veil of Imagination, a record that is a notorious grower for many of us on staff. And you know what? I was right. Agriculture became an album that I stopped struggling with and started vibing out to, despite my initial reservations. But then Agriculture put out the Living is Easy EP last year, and that showed a band that was infinitely more confident in themselves and their signature spiritual sound. They didn’t have to hide their light behind zany, jumpscare-esque transitions or meandering slow burns. My love for that short release was immediate and intense, and The Spiritual Sound, the sophomore release from the Los Angeles quartet, continues to show off a band whose songwriting keeps getting exponentially better.
Clearly, the song as a whole has been a major area of growth for Agriculture, despite the fact that The Spiritual Sound is an attempt to fuse together two different ethoses in songwriters Leah Levinson and Dan Meyer. The whole thing ends up working because of the way the band brought together their separate ideas and cyclically broke them apart and reassembled them, just to break them down again. It’s a brutal process, but to my ears, Agriculture have finally nailed down a sound that is natural, effortless and authentically theirs. There is so much more emphasis on tight and memorable hooks, and in addition to their quintessential black metal and indie leanings, you get a healthy dose of lots of other influences, but nothing feels forced this time around. The nu-metal riff that propels opener “My Garden” fits well under Levinson’s raspy shriek, before Meyer takes a turn with a shoegaze-esque chorus. “Micah (5:15 AM)” launches into the stratosphere on top of punk gallops courtesy of drummer Kern Haug. Lead single “Bodhidharma” captures goddamn arena rock and grunge intensity before fading into almost nothingness, save for Levinson’s spine-chilling whimper. This is a band that has truly found their wheelhouse, and their blend of outside-the-box thinking has never been more focused and razor sharp. Every song has its own way of affecting you and grabbing your attention, which is exactly what The Spiritual Sound was created for. This isn’t an album that is meant to be background music; it’s meant to be at the forefront of your consciousness, and it will be for me for a long time. My only real gripe with it is the production, which is a shame since it was handled in house. Especially on the drums, but in a lot of spots, everything feels very muted and subdued, when I find myself really wanting the individual instruments to pop, especially considering how well Agriculture plays with dynamics. It’s a small complaint, and it certainly doesn’t keep me from enjoying this record on repeat.
If you, like I almost did, missed getting on board the Agriculture train, then The Spiritual Sound will almost certainly bring you into the fold. This is a wonder of an album, a triumph of unique songwriting and an intensely affecting piece of pure art. It’s ecstatic, it’s spiritual, it’s fucking awesome: it’s the band Agriculture, baby.
— Ian
The Spiritual Sound is available now on Agriculture’s Bandcamp page. For more information on the band Agriculture, visit their official website.