It’s difficult to describe Agriculture’s latest album, The Spiritual Sound, without relying on the concept of dichotomy — starting off with the band’s self-described genre, “ecstatic black metal.” By nature, most dichotomous things work against each other, but for this avant-garde group, unexpected and unconventional pairings work in union. Heavy, post-metal sounds harmonize with the luminous, euphoric, and dreamy. From top to bottom, the album is nothing if not alive — breathing in and out, finding moments to settle into stillness and vulnerability amid the band’s signature blend of raucous distortion and blast beats.
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Needless to say, intensity is the lifeblood of The Spiritual Sound, flowing from a place that is deeply and violently human while simultaneously transcending the blinding brashness of true black metal, marrying the genre’s guttural fervor with profound ecstasy, peace, and grace within the noise. Guitars transcend with unbridled energy and immediacy, pummeling and methodically picking against the crashing of bold drum beats. Delivering their best performance to date, dual vocalists Leah Levinson and Daniel Meyer find balance — the former loading each lyric with screaming, scraping catharsis, while the latter’s “clean” vocals shimmer and warble in otherworldly birdsong like prayer. The combination is vivid and cleansing, an exorcism of grief and joy, woven together until the two become indistinguishable.
It’s an album about transformation, pain, and relief — about being alive in the world today, and what comes next. We’d implore you to see the band live, on their forthcoming run — like the album, Agriculture are as internal an experience as it is shared.