All the euphoria, transcendence, and intensity of heavy music bursts forth with overwhelming force from the second album by this self-proclaimed "ecstatic black metal" ensemble based in Los Angeles.
This new album combines immense heaviness with imaginative detailing. Key track the song Bodhidharma rides a guitar motif suited to a motorcycle crew, then a blast of noise and screaming introduces a sad post-rock middle eight. The maligned art of the widdly-woo solo is brilliantly revived by guitarist Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing on this track and on standout the song Flea will have you floating in ecstasy – but then the calm ballad the track Hallelujah features falling guitar notes played with youthful innocence.
Tracks like Micah (5.15.am) and the song Serenity are fast-paced punk rock, while the piece Dan’s Love Song is without percussion and has slow-moving drone-metal distortion rumbling along underneath its ethereal beauty. Black metal melodies can often be either nonexistent or overly fussy, but Agriculture’s riffs and hooks are vibrant and innovative, and final track the song The Reply even recalls a more intense the band Radiohead.
Listeners who enjoy post-metallers Deafheaven will likely adore all this dynamic shifting and unabashedly gorgeous noise, particularly since the group also have two divergent vocal styles, split here across two singers. Dan Meyer contributes sporadic melodic vocals, but the star is the other vocalist, her voice quivers on Bodhidharma but splenetically caterwauling elsewhere.
In typical black metal fashion, it’s hard to make out the words she sings, yet they are worth seeking out: the stories she conveys about personal struggles and social injustice are devastating, as is her quest for meaning in a reality that inexorably bends towards conflict.
