Agriculture: Their Album 'The Spiritual Sound' Review – Unabashedly Gorgeous Noise from Ecstatic Black Metal Group
Every bit of euphoria, spiritual ascent, and power of heavy music bursts forth with overwhelming force from the sophomore release by this self-described "blissful black metal" collective based in Los Angeles.
The Spiritual Sound combines crushing weight with imaginative detailing. Key track Bodhidharma rides a guitar motif fit for a biker gang, then a burst of static and screaming heralds a sad post-rock bridge section. The often-criticized technique of the widdly-woo solo is spectacularly resurrected by guitarist Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing on this track and on highlight Flea will have you levitating with joy – yet the calm ballad the track Hallelujah showcases descending guitar melodies played with childlike simplicity.
Tracks like Micah and Serenity are high-speed punk rock, while the piece Dan’s Love Song is without percussion and has glacial Sunn O)))-style distortion rumbling along underneath its dream-pop loveliness. Melodies in black metal can often be either nonexistent or too complex, yet the band's riffs and hooks are vibrant and innovative, and final track the song The Reply even evokes a more intense Radiohead.
Listeners who enjoy post-metallers similar artists will probably love all this contrasting dynamics and fearlessly beautiful sound, particularly since the group also have two divergent singing approaches, split here across two singers. Dan Meyer adds sporadic soulful, clean singing, but the star is the other vocalist, whose voice trembling on one track but fiercely howling elsewhere.
As is common in the genre, it's difficult to make out her lyrics, yet they are worth the effort: the narratives she sings about personal struggles and anti-LGBTQ bigotry are devastating, just like her quest for purpose in a world that inexorably bends towards violence.
