The Spiritual Sound of Ecstatic Black Metal by the band Agriculture

Both a mission statement and a self-parody, the description ‘ecstatic black metal’ is both sincere and absurd. None of the band are black metal diehards, with backgrounds in noise, punk and jazz, Agriculture are a band of four people arriving from four completely different directions to produce a sound quite unlike anything else. Formed in Los Angeles, the foundation of their sound was laid down on 2022’s The Circle Chant before being expanded and deepened on their 2023 self-titled full-length and 2024’s Living Is Easy. Their second album The Spiritual Sound has since gained them global acclaim.

Guitarist/producer Richard Chowenhill is trained as a classical composer and is responsible for most of the jaw-dropping Van Halen shred theatrics on The Spiritual Sound. Bassist/vocalist Leah Levison hammers home each of her songs with throat-shredding screams and intense lyrics grounded in the reality of queer struggle whilst guitarist/vocalist Dan Meyer claws his way through Zen Buddhism and the grief of historical collapse. All the while Kern Huang’s jazz-inspired eruptions drop from superfast blast beats to funeral doom paces with no click tracks and tremendous intensity. Bodhidharma in particular opens with an enormous riff and a scream before stopping dead, delicate as a whisper to produce one of the most jaw-dropping moments in modern metal. Pitchfork proclaimed The Spiritual Sound one of 2025’s most daring metal albums and The Guardian gave it five stars. With a recent UK and EU tour under their belt including a spellbinding and sweat-drenched sold out show at The Dome, we had to hit up Agriculture to find out more.

Let’s start by talking about the label ‘ecstatic black metal’. How seriously do you take this descriptor?

Did you have any key musical reference points or inspirations when making The Spiritual Sound?

What are the lyrical and conceptual themes running through the album, and what made you pick the title?

Agriculture make and perform music that comes across as extremely sincere whilst also acknowledging the inherently ridiculous theatricality of extreme metal. Can you talk about the balance between the two?

What scenes were you all part of before coming together as Agriculture?

What was the initial goal when you formed the band, and has that original vision changed?

Do you think it changes your process having Richard as producer as well as a band member?

Your live show contains a lot of volatile improvisation that feels like it could go right off the rails. Are Agriculture determined to never use click tracks or anything prerecorded?

Where have been some of your favourite places to play in the UK?

What is the ultimate goal of Agriculture?