With 2025 almost over, we’ve been asking artists about their favorite albums of the year, and here’s a list from members of Los Angeles black metallers Agriculture. Find it, and their commentary, below.
Agriculture released one of our very favorite albums of 2025 with their sophomore LP, The Spiritual Sound. Stream it below.
AGRICULTURE’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2025
Los Angeles Office of Improvisation – 10. Goro the Vibratian/Enya/Cohen/Haug
This is the tenth album from the Los Angeles Office of Improvisation, a project I play drumkit in. I did a lot of gardening while listening to this one. Definitely top 10 of the year for me. – Kern
Habak – Mil orquídeas en medio del desierto
I got into Habak through their 2023 split with LA emo/crust band Lagrimas. We got to share a bill with them in the spring as support for Orchid who was doing a reunion tour along the West Coast. This is the heavy music album that has stuck with me the most from this year. It came out as we were wrapping up mixes and masters for our own album, and I couldn’t help feel some resonance with what they did on it and some of our material. I think the songwriting and production is really strong and creative across the album and I feel really excited by the band’s genre-ambivalence that allows them to creative deeply expressive and affecting heavy music. Track 2, “Desarraigo,” has been on repeat for me throughout the year. – Leah
Chronophage – Musical Attack: Communist + Anarchist Friendship
Chronophage have been one of my favorite bands for almost a decade now. Some of the songs on their first EP, 2017’s What is the Mystery of Love, still pop in my head from time to time. They’ve put out several great albums and EPs since then. This one feels somehow like a return to that original source and a culmination of everything they’ve done since. Melodic, clever, melancholy, catchy, and joyfully bound to the spectre of something we once called punk, an ineffeble spirit that seems to run in their blood. I love Chronophage, one of the best of our times. – Leah
Asunojokei – Think of You
This album felt like a musical revelation for me. Melodic extreme music focused in pop songwriting forms, drawing from a black metal, death metal, crust, and screamo palette, and using jazz and city pop influenced harmony. It’s a sound that felt instantly familiar to me and like nothing else. This feels like the sort of album that could spawn a whole scene with its ingenuity and clarity. Excited to see where this sound goes. – Leah
Syko Friend – Dizzy Magic
Sophie is my friend and neighbor (our dogs are friends as well) and I’ve been following her music for about as long as I’ve been a fan of Chronophage (see above). I think this is a really special album and a really strong statement of her work as an artist. Her music is poetry-driven and is often delivered solo through her voice and guitar. It’s often minimal and repetitive in a way that is both psychedelic and understated. This album has some of the project’s first work with drums and bass and I think she found something really exciting through that. Those songs seem to take some kosmische and folk influence but land somewhere that isn’t too distant from doom-influenced acts like Ragana and Om. Highly recommend. – Leah
Jared Redmond – Scintillant: Scarlatti, Boulez, Soler
Jared plays with all of the technical chops that we have come to expect from 21st century performers, but what sets him apart are his deeply thoughtful interpretations. His granular mastery of the piano’s full dynamic range allows him to achieve a level of expressive subtlety that seems to have fallen out of favor in the popular pursuit of note-perfect performances. What’s remarkable about this record is that you get to witness note-perfect performances of gorgeous, carefully considered interpretations; a rarity in any age. – Richard
The Names of Our Friends – Disidentification/Hymn
This is intensely frenetic music that is at once smart, and raw. Over the span of two songs, the band tears through riff after riff and introduces enough material to fuel an entire full-length. There is some brilliant composition on display here, and each motif is given only the slightest hint of development; just enough to keep you wanting more. This compelling compositional gesture has kept me listening to this release on repeat. – Richard
Geese – Getting Killed
It’s so exciting to see an album this challenging and dense get insanely popular. After it came out I spent like 2 weeks just ecstatically listening to it and talking about it with anyone who would listen. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about a contemporary project. We are lucky to be alive for it! – Dan
Alex G – Headlights
When I was in college on the east coast in 2013, everyone was obsessed with Alex G’s at the time new album Trick. It was the special thing where we felt like nobody outside of the DIY northeast scene had heard of the best songwriter of our generation. I remember seeing him open for Liturgy at a Halloween show at my college. Hilarious. This new album is for GROWN UPS. it’s mature and poignant and I love it. -Dan
Abdullah Miniawy – Peacock Dreams
I don’t know anything about this project but my goodness it’s beautiful. The singing is extraordinary and there’s so much SPACE on the record. Great job. – Dan
Agriculture will be on tour in 2026, including dates with Knoll and Model/Actriz. Their NYC show is with Knoll, at Bowery Ballroom on February 13. See all dates below.
AGRICULTURE: 2026 TOUR DATES
Jan. 24, 2026 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
Jan. 25, 2026 Baltimore, MD Metro Baltimore
Jan. 27, 2026 Charlotte, NC Snug Harbor #
Jan. 28, 2026 Asheville, NC Eulogy #
Jan. 29, 2026 Nashville, TN DRKMTTR #
Jan. 30, 2026 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway #
Jan. 31, 2026 Kansas City, MO RecordBar #
Feb. 2, 2026 Minneapolis, MN 7th St. Entry #
Feb. 4, 2026 Chicago, IL The Empty Bottle #
Feb. 5, 2026 Detroit, MI Lager House #
Feb. 6, 2026 Columbus, OH Ace of Cups #
Feb. 7, 2026 Cleveland, OH Mahall’s 20 Lanes #
Feb. 10, 2026 Toronto, ON Longboat Hall #
Feb. 11, 2026 Montreal, QC Bar Le Ritz #
Feb. 12, 2026 Boston, MA The Sinclair #
Feb. 13, 2026 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom #
Apr. 17 – 19, 2026 Tilburg, Netherlands Roadburn Festival 2026
Apr. 22, 2026 Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre *
Apr. 25, 2026 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall *
Jun. 26, 2026 Bourlon, France Rock In Bourlon Festival 2026
Jun. 27, 2026 Hauteville, Switzerland Abyss Festival 2026
# with Knoll
* with Model/Actriz
Read more 2025 year end lists here.