Last week, I had my fourth opportunity to see Agriculture, and it was just as transcendent an experience as the first time I saw them when they opened for Ragana at the Lodge Room in 2024. Every time they take the stage, it feels like I am immediately overrun with emotion. Partly, this is due to the immense amount of time that I have spent listening to this band, and the multitude of ways their music has impacted my life. Their music has consistently given me strength, resilience, and hope, something I have greatly come to appreciate as I wrestle with the daily onslaught of negativity and bad news. More than ever, community is a necessity and music remains one of the most powerful ways to generate it.

Setting aside my own experience listening to the band, I think the strength of my emotional reaction to watching them live is also simply a natural reaction to the pure cathartic force that makes up any Agriculture performance. Every member of Agriculture pours what feels like the very essence of their being into the set: musically, emotionally, and physically. Whether it is the ungodly speed with which Richard shows off his incredible guitar skills, the ferocity that is the blur of Kern’s hands and sticks, or the withering, screeching vocals of Leah and Dan, every member brings forward an absoluteness in their performance that is thoroughly intoxicating. Every time I see Agriculture, I feel as if they are performing a sacred, summoning ritual, one where the collective awe and passion of the crowd is harnessed to generate a communal spirit that joins us all in a shared state of raw exuberance and jubilation.

Every time I am lucky enough to attend an Agriculture show, I feel a thrilling sense of invigoration that is uniquely electrifying in its duality of softness and hardness. I see plenty of live music that leaves my body shaking, but part of the hypnotic pull of Agriculture’s particular flavor of ecstatic black metal is the wonderful variety in the journey it takes you on. Earlier in this review, I highlighted the glaringly harsh vocals of Dan and Leah, but I would be remiss if I did not also make mention of the sheer beauty in the vocal passages that are intimately soft. The inherent tension in the dual presence of both of these flavors of vocals only serves to heighten both.

I was also quite impressed with how good of a venue Constellation Room was for the band. I have seen Agriculture at The Fonda, The Lodge Room, and now Constellation Room, and I think this might be my favorite venue yet to witness them in. The closeness of the small room had us all grouped in a way that felt fitting of the nature of the set. It was as if we were all in on a secret, sharing it together in a nondescript room on an otherwise ordinary weekday night.

For this show, I made four designs of pins to hand out. Agriculture is already so good at fostering community at their shows, that it makes me especially happy to be able to hand out gifts to fellow fans and help foster community in my own way. I also find it really gratifying to make my own art as a token of my appreciation for their art, as well as the inspiration I take from it. It also allows me the opportunity to delve into their lyrics in a more analytical sense, which has the added effect of making it all the more breathtaking to see those lyrics delivered on stage.

To wrap up this review, I just want to really emphasize how fucking nice and down to earth this band is. I’ve had the fortune of meeting them all multiple times now, and I always appreciate the chance to chat. Their passion is obvious, their talent brilliant, and their vibes impeccable. All of that is why witnessing The Spiritual Sound live is such a spiritual experience.