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.
Background Incorporating elements of post-hardcore, sludge metal, post-metal, thrash metal, blackgaze, and progressive metal, 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." Produced by the group, the album was recorded and mixed by guitarist Richard Chowenhill.
"Bodhidharma" was released the lead single on July 20, 2025. It was followed by the second single, "The Weight", on August 13, 2025, the third single, "Dan's Love Song", on September 17, 2025, and the fourth and final single, "My Garden", on October 1, 2025.
Critical reception
On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 87 based on nine reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Pitchfork proclaimed The Spiritual Sound to be "one of 2025’s most daring metal albums" and praised Agriculture as "the type of band who can shapeshift with each song while maintaining a distinct personality."
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."
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 textural versatility finds full consciousness in music that blasts with numbing intensity until it's reborn into vibrance." 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."
In a 9/10 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." The album received a five-star rating from The Guardians 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."
The Fader reviewer Raphael Helfand observed, "the new record juxtaposes long passages of high-octane chaos with moments of striking tenderness," 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." Kerrang! 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."
Year-end lists Publication List Rank Beats Per Minute The Top 50 Albums of 2025 6 Treble The 50 Best Albums of 2025 6 The Quietus Albums of the Year 2025 7 BrooklynVegan 50 Best Albums of 2025 10 Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2025 20 Exclaim! 50 Best Albums of 2025 21 Metal Hammer The 50 Best Albums of 2025 27 Flood Magazine The Best Albums of 2025 29 The Needle Drop Top 50 Albums of 2025 29 Decibel Top 40 Albums of 2025 32 Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2025 41
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Agriculture Dan Meyer – guitar, vocals, production Leah B. Levinson – bass, vocals, production, art direction, cover design Richard Chowenhill – guitar, production, engineering, mixing, mastering Kern Haug – drums, production
Additional contributors Emma Ruth Rundle – guest vocals on "The Reply" Adam Hirsch – engineering on "My Garden", "Flea", "The Weight" "Serenity", and "The Reply" Colin Knight – engineering on "Micah (5:15am)", "Bodhidharma", and "Hallelujah" A.L.N. – additional engineering on "The Reply" Olivia Crumm – photography Suzanne Yeremyan – layout
Charts + Chart performance for The Spiritual Sound Chart (2025) Peakposition
References