| The Spiritual Sound | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 3, 2025 | |||
| Genre | Black metal [1] | |||
| Length | 43:59 | |||
| Label | The Flenser | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Agriculture chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Spiritual Sound | ||||
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The Spiritual Sound is the second studio album by the American black metal band Agriculture. It was released on October 3, 2025, via The Flenser in cassette, LP, CD and digital formats. [2]
Incorporating elements of post-hardcore, sludge metal, shoegaze metal, thrash metal, and progressive metal, [3] the album consists of ten songs with a total runtime of approximately forty-four minutes. It was preceded by the band's 2024 EP, Living Is Easy. The band described the work as "an album about the really fundamental human experiences of suffering, joy, and love." [4] Produced by the group, the album was recorded and mixed by guitarist Richard Chowenhill. [5]
"Bodhidharma" was released as a single on July 20, 2025. [6] It was followed by the second single, "My Garden", on October 1, 2025. [7]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 88/100 [8] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Exclaim! | 9/10 [9] |
| The Guardian |  [10] |
| Kerrang | 4/5 [2] |
| Paste | 8.6/10 [11] |
| Sputnikmusic | 4.2/5 [1] |
| Under the Radar |  [3] |
On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 88 based on seven reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [8]
Ryan P of Sputnikmusic assigned the album a rating of 4.2 and commented, "This album might not flow as perfectly as others or have one consistent style, but what it does have is riffs, balls and atmosphere aplenty, and when creating music based in black metal, it doesn't get any better than that." [1]
In a review for Paste , Matt Mitchell rated it 8.6, calling it "the best metal album of the year," and stating "The Spiritual Sound's textural versatility finds full consciousness in music that blasts with numbing intensity until it's reborn into vibrance." [11] Giving it a rating of nine, Marko Djurdjić of Exclaim! remarked, "Confrontational yet embracing, The Spiritual Sound wraps you in screams and distortion, pummelling while blanketing, devastating amidst the uplift." [9]
In a nine-star review for Under the Radar , Marc Abbott referred to the album as "a work of duality, melding the diverse—yet complimentary—approaches of songwriters Leah Levinson and Dan Meyer" and "a record of two halves, the first side assaulting the senses, the second offering a more grounded and philosophical experience." [3] The album received a five-star rating from The Guardian 's Ben Beaumont-Thomas, who opined, "Black metal melodies can often be either nonexistent or overly fussy, but Agriculture's riffs and hooks are bright and original, and closer 'the Reply' even recalls a much heavier Radiohead." [10]
The Fader reviewer Raphael Helfand observed, "the new record juxtaposes long passages of high-octane chaos with moments of striking tenderness," [12] while The Quietus writer Jared Dix stated, "It's consistently thrilling and the more reflective moments feel of a piece with the concentrated blasts of soaring metal." [13] Kerrang! 's Sam Law gave the album a rating of four, describing it as "a fathomless pool worth hurling yourself into, a shimmering, shattering new landmark on heavy music's mind-expanding outer limits." [2]
All lyrics are written by Dan Meyer and Leah B. Levinson; all music is composed by Meyer, Levinson, Richard Chowenhill, and Kern Haug.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Garden" | 5:12 |
| 2. | "Flea" | 3:55 |
| 3. | "Micah (5:15 am)" | 4:21 |
| 4. | "The Weight" | 5:43 |
| 5. | "Serenity" | 3:07 |
| 6. | "The Spiritual Sound" | 0:28 |
| 7. | "Dan's Love Song" | 4:51 |
| 8. | "Bodhidharma" | 6:23 |
| 9. | "Hallelujah" | 3:30 |
| 10. | "The Reply" | 6:29 |
| Total length: | 43:59 | |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [14]
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)