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Every bit of euphoria, spiritual ascent, and power in heavy sonic art radiates with blinding force from the sophomore release by this self-described "blissful black metal" collective hailing from Los Angeles.

The Spiritual Sound pairs crushing weight with creative intricacies. Lead single the song Bodhidharma propels along a riff suited to a biker gang, before a blast of noise and shrieking introduces a sad atmospheric rock bridge section. The often-criticized technique of the virtuosic guitar solo is spectacularly resurrected by axeman Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing here and on highlight Flea will have you levitating with joy – but then the gentle song Hallelujah showcases descending guitar melodies played with childlike simplicity.

Tracks like Micah (5.15.am) and the song Serenity are high-speed hardcore punk, but Dan’s Love Song is drum free and has glacial Sunn O)))-style distortion rumbling along underneath its ethereal beauty. Melodies in black metal can often be either nonexistent or too complex, yet the band's riffs and hooks are bright and original, and closer The Reply even evokes a much heavier the band Radiohead.

Fans of post-metallers Deafheaven will probably love all this dynamic shifting and unabashedly gorgeous noise, particularly since the group also feature two divergent singing approaches, divided here across two singers. Dan Meyer adds sporadic soulful, clean singing, but the star is Leah Levinson, her voice quivers on one track but splenetically caterwauling elsewhere.

In typical black metal fashion, it’s hard to make out her lyrics, yet they are worth the effort: the stories she conveys about personal struggles and anti-LGBTQ bigotry are heart-wrenching, just like her search for purpose in a world that relentlessly trends towards violence.