Agriculture: Their Album 'The Spiritual Sound' Review – Unabashedly Gorgeous Soundscapes from Blissful Extreme Metal Group
All the elation, transcendence, and power in heavy sonic art bursts forth with overwhelming energy from the second album by this self-proclaimed "ecstatic black metal" ensemble based in Los Angeles.
The Spiritual Sound combines crushing weight with imaginative detailing. Key track the song Bodhidharma rides a riff suited to a motorcycle crew, then a burst of static and screaming heralds a melancholic post-rock bridge section. The often-criticized technique of the widdly-woo solo is spectacularly resurrected by guitarist the lead guitarist, whose soloing on this track and on standout Flea will have you levitating with joy – but then the calm ballad the track Hallelujah showcases falling guitar notes played with youthful innocence.
Songs such as Micah and Serenity are high-speed hardcore punk, while the piece Dan’s Love Song is without percussion and has slow-moving drone-metal distortion rumbling underneath its dream-pop loveliness. Melodies in black metal can often be either nonexistent or overly fussy, yet the band's riffs and hooks are vibrant and innovative, and closer The Reply even evokes a much heavier the band Radiohead.
Fans of post-metallers similar artists will likely adore all this contrasting dynamics and fearlessly beautiful sound, especially because the group also have two divergent vocal styles, split here across two vocalists. Dan Meyer adds sporadic soulful, clean singing, yet the standout 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 the effort: the narratives she sings about suicidal friends and social injustice are heart-wrenching, as is her search for meaning in a reality that relentlessly trends towards violence.
