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All the euphoria, spiritual ascent, and intensity of heavy music bursts forth with overwhelming force from the second album by this self-proclaimed "blissful black metal" ensemble based in Los Angeles.

This new album pairs crushing weight with creative intricacies. Key track Bodhidharma rides a guitar motif fit for a motorcycle crew, before a burst of static and screaming introduces a sad post-rock middle eight. The maligned art of the virtuosic guitar solo is spectacularly resurrected by guitarist Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing here and on highlight Flea will have you levitating with joy – but then the calm ballad the track Hallelujah showcases descending guitar melodies played with childlike simplicity.

Tracks like Micah and Serenity are high-speed punk rock, while Dan’s Love Song is without percussion and has slow-moving drone-metal fuzz rumbling underneath its dream-pop loveliness. Black metal melodies can often be either nonexistent or too complex, yet Agriculture’s guitar lines and choruses are bright and original, and closer the song The Reply even recalls a much heavier Radiohead.

Listeners who enjoy post-metallers similar artists will likely adore all this dynamic shifting and fearlessly beautiful sound, particularly since Agriculture also have two distinct vocal styles, split here across two vocalists. Dan Meyer contributes sporadic melodic vocals, yet the standout is Leah Levinson, whose voice trembling on Bodhidharma but splenetically caterwauling elsewhere.

In typical black metal fashion, it’s hard to make out the words she sings, yet they are worth seeking out: the narratives she sings about suicidal friends and anti-LGBTQ bigotry are heart-wrenching, just like her search for meaning in a reality that relentlessly trends towards conflict.