{"title":"Agriculture","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"agriculture","title":"Agriculture","description":"\u003cp\u003eFull length debut of “ecstatic black metal” band from Los Angeles. Recorded by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor something to be “ecstatic,” the feelings and emotions it evokes must transcend what one tends to experience most regularly in their life. Ecstatic joy isn’t just happiness; it’s a feeling of jubilation which impacts one emotionally and in a metaphysical, arguably spiritual sense too. Although it has long been associated with connotations of the dark and macabre, extreme music has the ability to be a powerful mode of expression for these feelings of absolute bliss, overwhelming love, and awe-inspiring sublimity. Extreme emotions no less and those which black metal quartet Agriculture evokes with its ecstatic subversion of the subgenre’s tropes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat was initially a meeting and subsequent series of jam sessions between Kern Haug and Daniel Meyer, two musicians in the Los Angeles underground 4 noise scene, would eventually manifest as a shared vision to portray the sublimity of the human experience through the vehicle of heavy music. Following the additions of veteran guitarist Richard Chowenhill and bassist \/ vocalist Leah Levinson to the band’s lineup, this idea would crystalize into the “ecstatic black metal” backbone of Agriculture’s music, first heard on the band’s 2022 debut EP, The Circle Chant. With Agriculture’s self-titled record and first full-length LP, it’s abundantly clear that the band’s use of heavy music to showcase the most resplendent emotions and moments of the human experience has a far deeper meaning. Woven between the flurries of soaring tremolo picking, crescendoing guitar harmonies, celebratory screamed vocals, thoughtful improvisation, and meditative atmospheric passages is the record’s mission statement to experience the wonders and joys of both the esoteric and physical world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Flenser","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50397241934155,"sku":"2028259","price":34.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50397243474251,"sku":"2028265","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Agriculture__Agriculture_ab50807a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726488894"},{"product_id":"living-is-easy-the-circle-chant","title":"Living Is Easy \/ The Circle Chant","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Flenser is pleased to announce the release of Living Is Easy, the latest EP from ecstatic black metal band Agriculture. Ecstatic black metal from Los Angeles. Follows up 2023’s critically acclaimed debut. A new EP plus first vinyl release of their first EP. Appearing prominently at the 2024 edition of Roadburn. US and European tour dates in the works through 2024. Video for title track featuring Flenser goons, Chat Pile. This new EP will be paired with the band’s debut EP, The Circle Chant. For the first time, both EPs will be pressed together on a single 12-inch vinyl record as well as a cassette format Living Is Easy represents a significant new statement from the band. With their debut self-titled, Agriculture embarked on a journey to explore how heavy music can provide insights into the joys of life, both everyday and divine. Their extensive touring with this material led to a profound experience of ecstasy, surpassing expectations as they shared the intensity and joy of these songs with audiences worldwide. This experience was a catalyst for the band, inspiring them to delve even deeper into the realm of “ecstatic black metal” music. They believes that with this release they have pushed this concept to its limit, resulting in a transformative explosion of sound and meaning. The record delves into themes of community connection, holiness, violence, and the 10 cycles of life. The title track is especially notable, featuring a retelling of a story from one of the Buddha’s past lives. In this narrative, the Buddha encounters a starving family of tigers and sacrifices himself to save them, a tale of serenity and selflessness. This story resonates deeply with the band, reflecting the humility and inspiration they find in their collaboration and echoing the generosity and interconnection they strive to explore through their music. Touring holds a special place in the heart of Agriculture. It brings them immense joy to share their music, visit new places, and meet new people in cities around the world. This constant interaction with diverse audiences serves as a continuous source of inspiration for this work. Agriculture is eager and excited to share Living Is Easy as well as give new life to the first vinyl pressing of The Circle Chant\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Flenser","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50498342388043,"sku":"2191727","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50498341536075,"sku":"2191705","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50498342650187,"sku":"2191730","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Agriculture_-_Living_Is_Easy_5154eeeb_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727745290"},{"product_id":"the-spiritual-sound","title":"The Spiritual Sound","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere’s a kind of quiet violence in how music is consumed today - flattened into background noise, sonic perfume fed into algorithms, sold as lifestyle. It’s entertainment as anesthesia. Sound without the weight. \u003cem\u003eThe Spiritual Sound\u003c\/em\u003e, the new full-length from Los Angeles–based band Agriculture, stands as a pointed refusal of this condition. This is not a playlist. This is not a vibe. It is a demand.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAcross its runtime, \u003cem\u003eThe Spiritual Sound\u003c\/em\u003e traces a narrative arc through extremes: searing, sky-cracking catharsis on side A; a slow-burning, devotional undercurrent on side B. The album is largely a fusing of the visions of its two principal songwriters, Dan Meyer and Leah Levinson: distinct voices, deeply complementary.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMeyer writes like someone clawing toward the divine through noise, channeling Zen Buddhism, historical collapse, ecstatic grief. Levinson’s songs move differently: grounded in queer history and AIDS-era literature, amid the suffocating fog of the present, they carry the weight of survival as daily ritual. Her writing asks how to honor queer community and collective struggle without turning it into identity branding or personal mythmaking: how to stay honest, how to stay present. Though distinct, their voices converge in a singular spiritual grammar—one that defines the totality of The Spiritual Sound, not as separate parts, but as one unified expression.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAgriculture’s formation mirrors this duality. What began as a loose collaboration between Kern Haug and Dan Meyer in the Los Angeles noise scene evolved into a shared pursuit of the sublime through heavy music. With the additions of Richard Chowenhill and Leah Levinson, the project solidified into the band’s current form. The ecstatic black metal foundation was laid on 2022’s \u003cem\u003eThe Circle Chant\u003c\/em\u003e, expanded into something more precise and far-reaching on their 2023 self-titled full-length, and deepened further with 2024’s \u003cem\u003eLiving Is Easy:\u003c\/em\u003e a record that embraced devotional intensity and radiant heaviness in equal measure.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAgriculture doesn’t offer salvation. \u003cem\u003eThe Spiritual Sound \u003c\/em\u003eisn’t a map out of the fire. What it offers instead is presence: a confrontation with the moment, however unbearable, however divine. It insists that meaning is still possible, even in a world hell-bent on reducing everything to content, and where suffering itself can be conducive to recovery. As the Buddhist saying goes “the only way out is in.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor fans of emotionally intense and genre-expansive metal like Deafheaven, Alcest, Liturgy, Lingua Ignota, Have a Nice Life, Swans.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Flenser","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black and Cloudy Clear Butterfly \/ Rough Trade Exclusive","offer_id":52922239844683,"sku":"R2449-7082","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP - Lemon Yellow","offer_id":52922239877451,"sku":"R2449-0971","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":52922239910219,"sku":"R2449-3850","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52922239942987,"sku":"R2449-1830","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":52922239975755,"sku":"R2449-5039","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Agriculture-TheSpiritualSound.jpg?v=1752685692"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/agriculture.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}