“Every moment touches all of time.”
Agriculture‘s debut EP in 2022 introduced their brand of uniquely-fashioned “ecstatic black metal”. In our last encounter with them, standout EP Living is Easy, we were reminded of the aptitude of that description as they leaned further into the “ecstatic” portion of the label. In that light, The Spiritual Sound feels like a re-debut LP, marking another step as they drop their longest release yet. Not to say that the black metal base has gone anywhere, with some of the heaviest material yet making up a large section of runtime. However, there are more interstitials, more fluid dynamics, and a greater assortment of emotions to choose from.
“My Garden” opens the festivities with a flurry. Within seconds, a pounding guitar lead drives home the point that this may be ecstatic, but it’s still black metal. Some absolutely gruesome vocals tear through with fierce shrieks before giving way to a soft sung chorus. It makes for an incredible juxtaposition, even as it sits atop muted blast beats. The track then shifts back into the heavier segments, with some absolutely wicked guitar work floating in the background. The layers stack so densely that each listen reveals new pieces, which becomes a motif of its own for this record. “Flea” takes this a step further with a spoken word intro becoming its own through-line as it opens up a thunderous racket. This chorus is even softer, more far away and higher in the mix, with another drop back into the melee complete with them ripping a guitar solo for good measure. “Micah (5.15am)” follows suit with the blackgaze-infused guitars, picking up the tempo and sounding almost triumphant by the halfway mark. There’s no break for a clean interlude this time, instead holding off until the very end with a short bass segment outro.
Mind doing something,
Waiting, looking, spitting,
Image, cars and heat.
The first single in the running, “The Weight”, picks up with a nasty sludge riff to set the mood. It becomes blacker as it goes on, though not always cleanly. The most notable section comes in the last third, when it sounds like about four separate segments stacked on top of one another in a dizzying and nearly claustrophobic final breakdown. “Serenity” follows as the most by-the-numbers black metal track on the album. If there’s anything to criticize at this point, it’s that the last three tracks don’t distinguish themselves to the same degree as the first two, a problem which is righted in the second half:
Oh my love,
When you are born,
And you take shape and color,
And your form arises as if from nothing.
“Dan’s Love Song” feels like the answer to this criticism. After a short, feedback heavy interlude as the title track, this one drones to life. Out of the noise begins to emerge the first sung verse, nearly a cappella over a wash of fuzzy instrumentation. A stark contrast to the run before, it ushers in the shift, that being where you might snap to attention ahead of the album’s closing passages.
“Bodhidharma, I’m freezing to death!”
But you just stare at the wall and say nothing,
And nothing, and nothing,
And nothing, and nothing at all.
“Bodhidharma”, the lead single and most variable track so far on The Spiritual Sound, takes us through a run of most of the phases we’ve encountered. From soft-spoken vocals to slicing black metal riffs and noisy static, it uses all of it. At just under six minutes thirty, it feels much longer in its emotional weight and the journey to it. It segues seamlessly into “Hallalujah”, a mostly acoustic number to offer a moment of reprieve. After its melodic first segment it falls off and eventually spins into the rising action that is the closer. “The Reply” opens as its foil, or more accurate, “Hallalujah” is the foil to it. From the quietest sustained passage to one of the longest and heaviest, howling riffs appear like lightning bolts and twisting to the ground. This segment, in turn, burns itself out and then begins another acoustic-driven whispered verse. The interplay between these tracks makes the resulting crescendo all the more earned. Featuring backing vocals from Emma Ruth Rundle, who we notably adore, the last minutes prove a worthy payoff.
My primary question going into The Spiritual Sound was how it could live up to the increasing promise they showed, especially on Living is Easy. While it lacks anything quite as eclectic as “Being Eaten By A Tiger”, Agriculture answer confidently, especially from “Dan’s Love Song” and onward. We’ve known since 2022 that they can very easily execute on anything black metal or adjacent. The last two expand on ecstatic, creating some downright euphoric moments.
8.5/10
Agriculture‘s The Spiritual Sound comes out this Friday, October 3rd on The Flenser with pre-orders here.