Black metal has a way of making you feel a whole gambit of emotions, most of them violent and negative, filling you with a darker spirit that can help you address the negativity in your life and perhaps let some of the pain and frustration leave your body. While this style of music has changed a lot over the years, there’s not a lot of this style that can make you feel positive excitement and bliss.

 We already knew what LA-based black metal force Agriculture stored as far as potential from their great introductory EP “The Circle Chant,” but the arrival of their self-titled first full-length takes that energy even further, spilling over in total exuberant chaos over these amazing seven tracks. The band—guitarist/vocalist Daniel Meyer-O’Keeffe, bassist/vocalist Leah B. Levinson, guitarist Richard Chowenhill, drummer/percussionist Kern Haug—calls their style “spiritual music” (hence the god references in their lyrics), but not in a religious sense. Instead, it’s a reverence to their surroundings, the comfort found in other people, and self-acceptance, which can be quite the hill to climb for some folks. Through these 31 minutes, Agriculture create delirious heaviness, some earnest reflection, and savage power that sweeps you up and takes you on a journey that can make you feel fulfilled in the end.  

“The Glory of the Ocean, Pt. 1” begins with slide guitar soothing, sending calm through your veins, and then the distortion mounts, the playing slowly developing its character. The emotion begins to tidal wave, feeling like a storm cloud bursting and pouring generously as “The Glory of the Ocean, Pt. 2” rips open, shrieks stabbing into your mind. The playing dives and warps as the infectious energy becomes insurmountable, pounding away. “Yes! This it! This is the Ocean! My body – give it away,” is wailed as the playing stabs and darts and then changes on a dime, storming with fire to the end. “The Well” is a change of pace as the track feels like a Midwestern indie dirge, Meyer-O’Keeffe’s voice calling with raw emotion, “A mother reaching out with a tiny mouth, ‘I can’t just watch the boy die all alone, and both of us crying.’” It’s a gripping piece, short but effective, and it sets the stage for what comes next.

“Look, Pt. 1” explodes out of the gates with many of the same words we heard on “The Well,” this time a ferocious rampage that is built on electric energy, manic shrieks, and eventually sax sprawling and twisting psyches. “Bright eyes opened up by mighty hands,” is a call that drives right into your chest, making you feel the adrenaline rush as we head toward “Look, Pt. 2” that continues the momentum and gets even hotter, blistering while the shrieks crush inhibitions, jarring with a start/stop thrashing that devastates. Guitars swelter as the band chugs heavily, slowly melting into cosmic winds, bending into “Look, Pt. 3” that’s an all-out black metal assault. The feelings rush and become the whole story, the wild cry of, “Reach in your chest and pull out your heart,” registering with force. The playing continues to storm, pulling back briefly as the drums take center stage, rumbling and bustling, pushing into gushing ferocity that feels like a jolt to your heart, the speed hurtling to the end. Closer “Relier” brings guitar gaze before it explodes in the air, howls crushing as the power stomps with desire. “Trust! Trust! Trust! I call it God…” knocks the breath from your lungs, the storming brews a new front that aims to devour, and the high speed causes smoke to rise and dominate, ending everything with incredible power.

Agriculture’s debut full-length is likely to be a touchstone record for black metal and heavy music in general in 2023, as it just feels like one of those albums. Of course, these things also create backlash, but when you have something this moving and genuine, a collection of music that sparks human response, you can’t worry about the people left hand wringing. This is an incredible album from a band that’s likely to have a major influence on where the sound evolves from here, which is a very exciting thing.

For more on the band, go here: https://agriculturemusic.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://nowflensing.com/collections/flenser-releases

For more on the label, go here: https://nowflensing.com/