Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound Review – Unabashedly Gorgeous Noise from Ecstatic Black Metal Band
All the elation, spiritual ascent, and intensity of heavy music bursts forth with overwhelming force from the second album by this self-described "ecstatic black metal" collective based in Los Angeles.
This new album pairs immense heaviness with imaginative detailing. Lead single Bodhidharma propels along a riff suited to a biker gang, before a burst of static and screaming introduces a sad atmospheric rock middle eight. The maligned art 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 features falling guitar notes played with youthful innocence.
Tracks like Micah and the song Serenity are high-speed hardcore punk, while the piece Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has slow-moving Sunn O)))-style fuzz 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 closer the song The Reply even recalls a much heavier the band Radiohead.
Listeners who enjoy post-metallers similar artists will probably love all this contrasting dynamics and unabashedly gorgeous noise, especially because the group also feature two distinct singing approaches, split here across two singers. Dan Meyer contributes sporadic soulful, clean singing, but the star is Leah Levinson, her voice quivers 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 the effort: the narratives she conveys about suicidal friends and social injustice are heart-wrenching, just like her quest for meaning in a reality that relentlessly trends towards conflict.
