The euphoric black metal turn is precious alone for how it irritates chuds like , who cannot help themselves from attacking and mischaracterizing this genre: that it is producing some of the heaviest and most interesting bands around right now is the icing on the cake. Coming up in the wake of Deafheaven and Liturgy, Los Angeles quartet Agriculture have seen a meteoric rise, as testified by tonight’s sold-out show at Bar Le Ritz PBD. I was kicking myself for not going to see them when they supported Chat Pile in late 2024, but tonight at least in part makes up for that.
But first, we’ve got to get in. Instead, we’re standing in the street listening to Knoll tear through their set thanks to whatever slow entry system the venue is employing. Once that ordeal is over, we are met with a venue packed tight like I have never seen it before, but Tennessee quintet Knoll’s “funeral grind” is powerful enough to reach all the way to the back. Knoll distinguish themselves with black metal style vocals somewhere between a shriek and a whisper (but also somewhat robotic and inhuman), and a general blackened quality to their music, coupled with a nice amount of harsh noise interludes, electronic elements and doomy parts. Add in some trumpet blasts from guitarist Ryan Cook, some funky head-bobbing bits, and with everything anchored by some relentless double-pedal blastbeats, you have yourself a winning formula.
Grindcore is an old genre, but a band like Knoll shows there can be life – and room for creativity and experimentation, in the old dog yet. Alas, the XL Dolly Parton white t-shirt is sold out when I ask at the merch booth! (but I’ll look for one online).
Blasting into Flea from their new album The Spiritual Sound, Agriculture clearly set the parameters of their sound: it’s proggy in that they can turn on a dime from heavy riffing to atmospheric soaring to just simply being in the moment: this band firmly grounds their black metal flights in a real world setting, with lyrics about “living rooms,” “watching tv,” and “my dog’s haunting rabbits in the yard.” This is not your fantasy black metal, but music which understands the need for transcendence as something stemming from actual lives: the realism of the physical locations and mental spaces that their music inhabits, between the urban/suburban built environment, and a natural world, with trees and water, that is frequently yearned for, comes across as very fresh in a genre which all too often sticks to stock locales (the crypt, the castle, the wind-blasted moor etc). You will hear a lot of influences in their sound, especially indie rock: I hear the Nirvana of Bleach at one point (My Garden), and also The Pixies, for their ability to do loud/quiet dynamics convincingly without making it pop (and oh look, there’s an audience member wearing a Weezer t-shirt: go 1990s!).
In fact I’d say the quiet parts in their sound (the silences even) are even more important than the loud parts. Of course the measured pounding intro drums of Bodhidharma get the night’s loudest cheer, and the hideous black metal shrieking from both Leah Levinson and Dan Meyer more than hit the spot, but I would say it’s the bluegrassy, folky Americana parts of their set by contrast that hit the hardest, and where the honesty of feeling shines the brightest. Because connecting with the audience through expression of vulnerability (in the delicate, jazzy and folky The Well and The Reply for example), is more difficult and rewarding than showing yourself to be hard or tough.
Another cool thing about Agriculture is that their onstage performance lets their individual personalities shine, rather than submerging them in a monolith of sound (as heavy bands sometimes do), and there are compelling “solo” sets from guitarist/vocalist Dan Meyer, drummer Kern Haug, and guitarist Richard Chowenhill (but not from vocalist/bassist Leah Levinson?). The band’s onstage “Fuck ICE” banner leaves no doubts about where they stand politically, and the crescendo and finale with Living Is Easy are emotional and cathartic: I am glad this is not an “encore” band. “All the music we play is about finding joy in difficulty, I guess,” says Meyer before the band express their appreciation of the crowd (and for Montreal bagels which they say “may be the best in the world.”). Great show, come back soon!
Review – Daniel Lukes
Photos – Steve Gerrard
