The Band Agriculture: Their Album 'The Spiritual Sound' Album Analysis – Boldly Beautiful Soundscapes from Blissful Extreme Metal Group
All the euphoria, transcendence, and intensity of heavy music radiates with overwhelming energy from the second album by this self-described "ecstatic black metal" collective based in Los Angeles.
The Spiritual Sound pairs immense heaviness with imaginative detailing. Lead single the song Bodhidharma propels along a guitar motif suited to a biker gang, then a burst of static and shrieking introduces a melancholic post-rock middle eight. The maligned art of the widdly-woo solo is brilliantly revived by axeman the lead guitarist, whose lead work on this track and on standout the song Flea will have you floating in ecstasy – yet the gentle song Hallelujah showcases falling guitar notes played with youthful innocence.
Songs such as Micah and the song Serenity are fast-paced hardcore punk, while the piece Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has glacial Sunn O)))-style fuzz rumbling underneath its ethereal beauty. 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.
Fans of experimental metal acts similar artists will probably love all this dynamic shifting and unabashedly gorgeous noise, especially because the group also have two distinct singing approaches, split here across two vocalists. Dan Meyer adds occasional melodic vocals, but the star is the other vocalist, her voice trembling on one track but fiercely howling on other songs.
In typical black metal fashion, it’s hard to discern her lyrics, but they’re worth the effort: the stories she sings about suicidal friends and anti-LGBTQ bigotry are devastating, just like her quest for purpose in a world that relentlessly trends towards violence.
