The Spiritual Sound rejects passive listening: ecstatic black metal that demands full presence. This is not background music. This is not for vibe.
We’re proud to announce The Spiritual Sound, the new full-length album from Los Angeles–based band Agriculture, out October 3rd on The Flenser.
Across its runtime, the album traces a narrative arc through extremes—sky-cracking catharsis on Side A; devotional stillness on Side B. The record is largely shaped by the contrasting but deeply complementary songwriting of Dan Meyer and Leah Levinson. Dan’s songs wrestle with spiritual collapse, ecstatic grief, and noise as transcendence. Leah’s contributions carry the weight of queer history and survival, informed by AIDS-era literature and the rituals of daily presence. Together, they form a singular spiritual grammar—less a style than a shared conviction.
Agriculture began as a collaboration between Dan Meyer and Kern Haug in the LA noise underground. As the band expanded to include Richard Chowenhill and Leah Levinson, their sound grew more precise and more ambitious. Their 2023 self-titled album and 2024’s Living Is Easy EP laid the groundwork. The Spiritual Sound builds on it: heavier, more spacious, and more exact in its intent.
The band’s process is communal and stubbornly persistent—songs are pulled apart and reassembled through conflict, repetition, and trust. With production by Chowenhill, The Spiritual Sound emerged not through bursts of inspiration, but through the long work of staying with it.
This is spiritual music rooted in ordinary things: gas station snacks, beat-up gear, mildew-smelling venues, and long-in-the-tooth tour vans. It’s not a lifestyle. It’s not content. It’s a confrontation—with the unbearable, the divine, and everything in between.
[digital] - [vinyl &merch (US)] - [Vinyl (EU)]
