LA ecstatic black metallers Agriculture have announced their sophomore album, The Spiritual Sound, due October 3 via The Flenser (pre-order). It was produced by the band and primarily recorded and mixed by guitarist Richard Chowenhill, and it also features additional engineering on select songs by Adam Hirsch, Colin Knight, and A.L.N. of Mizmor, plus guest vocals from Emma Ruth Rundle on “The Reply.”
The first single is “Bodhidharma,” named after the founder of Zen Buddhism, a theme that plays into co-vocalist Dan Meyer’s lyrics on this album. It’s a 6+ minute, genre-blurring song that pulls from black metal, sludge, post-rock, slowcore, harsh noise, and a little prog/psych rock. It’s a mini epic, and a very promising taste of this new LP. Here’s what Dan says about it:
Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, was an Indian monk who famously stared at the wall of a cave for nine years. He even cut off his eyelids in order to prevent himself from falling asleep. At one time, another monk approached him in his cave and pleaded ‘master, my head is on fire with anxiety, can you pacify my mind?’ Bodhidharma just kept staring at the wall and Huike waited outside of the cave all night until he was buried in snow up to his waist. Finally, as a gesture of desperation he cut off his arm and offered it to the great master. Huike later became Bodhidharma’s successor.
The song comes with a video made up of footage from Yokoji Zen Mountain Center, a Zen Buddhsim center in Southern California. Check it out below.
Agriculture also have a UK/Europe tour coming up in September, and then they open part of Boris‘ Pink 20th anniversary tour in North America, followed by their own North American tour. The headlining tour is mostly on the West Coast, but let’s hope they add an East Coast leg soon too. All currently announced dates are listed below.
In the time since Agriculture released their excellent 2023 self-titled debut album, they put out the Living Is Easy EP in 2024, and co-vocalists Dan Meyer and Leah B. Levinson both released solo albums. Leah put out Ciao Bella by her multi-genre Cali Bellow project in 2024, and Dan released Kneeling–an album that’s half shoegaze, half atmospheric black metal–under his own name earlier this year.
Tracklist
My Garden
Flea
Micah (5:15am)
The Weight
Serenity
The Spiritual Sound
Dan’s Love Song
Bodhidharma
Hallelujah
The Reply
Agriculture — 2025 Tour Dates
Sep 3 Bristol, UK — The Exchange
Sep 4 Brighton, UK — Dust
Sep 5 London, UK — Oslo
Sep 6 Manchester, UK — White Hotel
Sep 7 Newcastle, UK — The Cluny 2
Sep 9 Leeds, UK — Brudenell Social Club
Sep 11 Dublin, IE — Workman’s Club
Sep 12 Cork, IE — Nudes
Sep 13 Belfast, NIR — Voodoo
Sep 14 Glasgow, SC — CORE. Festival
Sep 16 Paris, FR — Point Ephemere
Sep 17 Kortrijk, BE — Wilde Westen
Sep 18 Haarlem, NL — Patronaat
Oct 27 San Antonio, TX — Paper Tiger $
Oct 28 Austin, TX — Mohawk $
Oct 30 Atlanta, GA — Masquerade $
Oct 31 Saxapahaw, NC — Haw River Ballroom $
Nov 01 Silver Spring, MD — The Fillmore $
Nov 02 Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer $
Nov 04 Louisville, KY — Zanzabar
Nov 06 Oklahoma City, OK — 89th Street
Nov 08 Albuquerque, NM — Launchpad
Nov 09 Phoenix, AZ — Valley Bar
Nov 11 Denver, CO — Hi-Dive
Nov 13 Salt Lake City, UT — The State Room
Nov 14 Boise, ID — Neurolux
Nov 16 Seattle, WA — Madame Lou’s
Nov 18 Vancouver, BC — Fox Cabaret
Nov 19 Portland, OR — Mississippi Studios
Nov 21 Sacramento, CA — Cafe Colonial
Nov 22 San Francisco, CA — The Chapel
Dec 04 San Diego, CA — Soda Bar
Dec 05 Los Angeles, CA — Lodge Room
$ with Boris