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Agriculture

Feb 16, 2026 By Matthew Berlyant Photography by Matthew Berlyant Web Exclusive

For all 29 years of its existence from its 1998 opening as a 500 capacity club under the umbrella of the then upstart booking Bowery Presents (who started booking shows at nearby and also still going 150 capacity Mercury Lounge) up to its current incarnation as a Live Nation venue, the Lower East Side’s venerable Bowery Ballroom has been a proving ground for up-and-coming independent artists on the way to various levels of stardom or a reliable gig for touring cult artists.

Last night’s sold-out show with Agriculture (their biggest headlining show in New York to date) was definitely a great example of the former, as it felt like watching a band that is clearly on their way to more notoriety, acclaim, and popularity. Touring for last October’s critically-acclaimed The Spiritual Sound, their breakthrough second album, the anticipation was great, and I am happy to say that they delivered on all counts.

Featuring a setlist loaded with songs from the new record (seven in total) and only four from their earlier material (several EPs and 2023’s self-titled album), Agriculture seems more concerned with the present and the future than with the past, and proved it on this evening. Playing with a backdrop that said “fuck ICE” and with another one proclaiming “Free Palestine,” they let the audience know exactly how they feel about some of the biggest issues of the day, and their performance backed up their political convictions full scale.

Alternating between vocalist/bassist Leah Levinson’s anguished screams and guitarist Dan Meyer’s more gentle “clean” singing (with occasional shrieks as well), Agriculture is unlike any other modern or post-black metal band. Not content with simply aping the “blackgaze” (a mixture of black metal and shoegaze) of contemporaries like Deafheaven, Alcest, Nothing, and the like, The Spiritual Sound is a tale of two extremes.

While side one of the record is a ferocious, feral blast of old-school Norwegian-style black metal as filtered through some of the best bands of the ‘90s D.I.Y. skramz explosion (think Frail or even Assfactor 4, for example), side two is a complete left turn, with obvious nods to My Bloody Valentine and 2000s Radiohead colliding with Buddhist chants and life-affirming, folksy experimentation alongside unexpected soloing and quieter parts that recall the post-rock of early ‘90s Talk Talk or something from Louisville during that era.

While on paper, it could be a mess, it somehow all works, even with “Look, Part One” (one of the few older songs played), incorporating a lengthy but ripping guitar solo, and “Relier” even including an unexpected drum solo, every minute of their roughly hour and fifteen minute set was not only enjoyable, but joyous and life-affirming indeed.

They define their sound as “ecstatic black metal,” and while to purists, that might be an oxymoron, it showed through in their performance with Meyer at the end of the night profusely thanking the exuberant crowd and talking about how hopeful he feels that so many others are also against the abuses of ICE that we all have seen so vividly in recent weeks.
Also of note were tour openers Knoll, a grindcore band from Tennessee unlike any other. With a striking visual aesthetic and backdrop more akin to the most evil black metal imaginable, and with elements of black metal, death metal, and pure noise also adding to the hellish mix, they are clearly not a band for the faint of heart. While Philadelphia’s also excellent Full of Hell is the most obvious contemporary, Knoll just hits differently and is notably more blackened. Notably, these seasoned road dogs are also back on the East Coast several months after touring as an opener for U.S. black metal pioneers Profanatica and several months before they come back to open for Pallbearer on their tour commemorating the recent reissue and remix of their 2014 album Foundations of Burden. Their set consisted primarily of songs from their latest album, 2024’s As Spoken, so they’ve gotten to be amazingly tight playing those songs for years and that most definitely showed in their performance.