The Band Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound Album Analysis – Boldly Beautiful Noise from Blissful Extreme Metal Band
Every bit of euphoria, spiritual ascent, and intensity in heavy sonic art bursts forth with blinding force from the sophomore release by this self-proclaimed "ecstatic black metal" ensemble based in Los Angeles.
The Spiritual Sound combines crushing weight with creative intricacies. Key track Bodhidharma rides a riff fit for a motorcycle crew, before a burst of static and screaming heralds a melancholic atmospheric rock middle eight. The maligned art of the widdly-woo solo is brilliantly revived by axeman Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing here and on highlight the song Flea will have you levitating with joy – but then the calm ballad Hallelujah features falling guitar notes played with youthful innocence.
Songs such as Micah and the song Serenity are fast-paced punk rock, while Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has slow-moving drone-metal distortion rumbling along underneath its ethereal beauty. Black metal melodies can often be absent or too complex, but the band's riffs and hooks are bright and original, and closer The Reply even recalls a more intense the band Radiohead.
Fans of experimental metal acts Deafheaven will probably love all this dynamic shifting and unabashedly gorgeous noise, particularly since the group also have two divergent singing approaches, split here across two singers. One vocalist adds occasional soulful, clean singing, but the star is Leah Levinson, her voice trembling on one track but fiercely howling elsewhere.
As is common in the genre, it’s hard to make out her lyrics, yet they are worth seeking out: the narratives she conveys about personal struggles and social injustice are heart-wrenching, as is her search for meaning in a reality that relentlessly trends towards conflict.
