Stoned Jesus have already made their mark as true trailblazers, but with their new album, these pilgrims of heavy progressive rock are embarking on their most expansive journey yet. The lead single from Songs to Sun opens with one of the band’s doomiest riffs. Though as revealed by frontman Igor Sydorenko, “Shadowland” gleams with surprising twists and hidden hooks.
Today, Igor is releasing a new video that shows how to play and how he wrote “Shadowland”. By taking a microdose of “big dumb riffs”, inspiration from Prince to Slipknot, and a page out of their own songbook, the band wound up with a mesmerizing chorus that fans will be shouting ahead of their upcoming shows across Europe, Australia and Latin America.
Watch Igor Sydorenko explain how to play and how he wrote “Shadowland”:
The video for “Shadowland: how to play it & how I wrote it” was written and filmed by Igor Sydorenko. It was edited by Radion Yakumenko.
Songs to Sun comes out September 19, 2025 on Season of Mist.
- Pre-order & Pre-save: https://orcd.co/stonedjesussongtosun
- Pre-save on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/4CYNwXVJHZn9MMtOIvLApx
Songs to Sun is the first album in a forthcoming trilogy that once complete, will stand as the pinnacle of what’s been a decades-long trip for Stoned Jesus. While picking up where the band’s last album Father Light left off, Sydorenko and his new mates still nod to their early classics Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest. But by merging metal’s fiery intensity with mind-melting grooves, vintage prog and their catchiest choruses yet, they bring the many distinct phases of Stoned Jesus to a bright, burning head.
Tracklist
1. New Dawn (8:53)
2. Shadowland (4:38) [WATCH]
3. Lost in the Rain (7:49)
4. Low (4:09)
5. See You on the Road (5:45)
6. Quicksand (9:52)
Hear Stoned Jesus perform “Shadowland” and other new songs off Songs to Sun during their upcoming European festival appearances and tours of Australia and Latin America
Get tickets: https://linktr.ee/stonedjesusband
2025 European Festivals
September 13 – Crest, FR @ Bridge To Hell
September 20 – Bilbao, ES @ Kristonfest
November 8 – Bochum, DE @ Tombstoned Fest
November 14 – Magny-Les-Hameaux, FR @ Foud Rock
November 15 – Eindhoven, NL @ Helldorado
2025 XV & Debut Australian Tour
September 28 – Perth @ The Rosemount
October 1 – Canberra @ The Baso
October 2 – Sydney @ The Underground
October 3 – Brisbane @ Soapbox Beer
October 4 – Melbourne @ The Leadbeater
October 5 – Adelaide @ The Crown & Anchor
2025 Latin American Tour
October 21 – Rio De Janeiro, Brazil @ Rock Experience
October 22 – Porto Alegre, Brazil @ Gravador
October 23 – Florianopolis, Brazil @ Desgosto
October 24 – Curitiba, Brazil @ Beveldere
October 25 – Sao Paulo, Brazil @ Jai Club
October 26 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil @ Caverna
October 28 – Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Uniclub
October 29 – Santiago, Chile @ Club Ambar
October 31 – Mexico City @ Sangriento [FIRST-EVER SHOW IN MEXICO]
Since 2009, Stoned Jesus has served as one of Europe’s leading forces in heavy rock. Igor Sydorenko, a veteran of the Ukrainian underground music scene, started it as a solo project after stumbling upon some heavy and angry riffs that would become the song “Occult.” He fed off his Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin influences and was soon turned onto Electric Wizard and Sleep, two bands who mastered the art of bold, lurching heaviness, thus creating a sonic template to abide by.
The Kyiv-based project was initially dubbed “Stoned Jesus from the Outer Space” but shortened to the much crisper Stoned Jesus. The name was trimmed down out of necessity — Sydorenko wanted to legitimize the band immediately. “I realized that this may cause some problems,” he told Psychedelic Baby in 2010. “Some people wouldn’t take our music seriously, then. I don’t mind jokes and having fun, but music is always the most serious thing for me.”
Two demos ensued before Stoned Jesus’s debut LP, 2010’s First Communion. Recorded with the first line-up in two hours, First Communion was a promising offering that dove headlong into the world of heavy stoner rock, with three songs going over the 10-minute mark for hypnotic effect. The album eventually saw a proper reissue in 2020, introducing it to a new group of fans. The first change of rhythm section brought Seven Thunders Roar in 2012, which included “I’m the Mountain,” a 13-minute epic that has since become a live staple. The album also introduced a bevy of acoustic guitar and softer vocal approaches from Sydorenko.
The Harvest came next in 2015 with a new drummer, deftly transitioning Stoned Jesus into the new terrain, with more alternative and progressive rock leanings. This is a credit to Sydorenko’s evolving songwriting style and desire to never allow Stoned Jesus to repeat itself. “It works brilliantly for the likes of Motörhead or AC/DC, but we’re not that legendary yet,” he told Outlaws of the Sun in 2015. “So, let’s experiment, shall we? Let’s play with the genres, the sound, the song structures, the melodies, the time signatures — yes, my favorite trick!”
With another change of the drummer, the fourth LP, Pilgrims, arrived in 2018. A bold and experimental record, it showed the growing maturity of both musical and lyrical sides of Igor’s ever-progressing songwriting. After a year-long The Pilgrimage Tour and yet another year on the road celebrating the band’s 10th anniversary with the greatest hits setlist, Stoned Jesus’ original plans were to record its follow-up in 2020. That, of course, was sidelined by the pandemic. The band then entered Spivaki Records in Kharkiv in July 2021 to record nine songs at 75 minutes. Two-thirds of the material was mixed and mastered before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, leaving the final run-time of six songs at 43 minutes.
The result was Father Light, the band’s first for Season of Mist, which caught Stoned Jesus in full bloom. The foundational elements of Stoned Jesus’s sound remained (fuzzed-out rock, driving bass lines and maximum groove), once again augmented by the combination of Sydorenko’s gentle clean vocals and hook-laden chorus choices, along with an array of ornamental guitar melodies. And, in true Stoned Jesus fashion, the journey is often the reward. The cuts on Father Light expand and shift — all the while, the band’s trademark heaviness serves as the guide.
Mother Dark, the gloomier introspective twin of Father Light, while partially recorded was shelved due to Igor’s dissatisfaction with the working dynamics of the latest Stoned Jesus line-up. Dissolving said line-up was a difficult decision to make, but Igor’s relocation to Europe brought a surprising reunion with his old friend Yurii, a talented drummer Igor had known even before writing the first Stoned Jesus song. Adding bassist-vocalist Andrew Rodin to this new line-up solidified its reliability, and now, after the whole year of relentless 25th Anniversary Tour schedule, the reinvigorated Stoned Jesus is more than ready for their next chapter.
Songs to Sun is the first album in a forthcoming trilogy that once complete, will stand as the pinnacle of what’s been a decades-long trip for Stoned Jesus. While picking up where Father Light left off, Sydorenko and his new mates still nod to Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest along the way. But by merging metal’s fiery intensity with mind-melting grooves, vintage prog and their catchiest choruses yet, they bring the many distinct phases of Stoned Jesus to a bright, burning head.
Lineup
Igor Sydorenko – Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Andrew Rodin – Bass, Backing Vocals
Yurii Ciel – Drums, Backing Vocals
Production Credits
Produced by Igor Sydorenko
Recorded by Ignancy Gruzecki
Mixed and Mastered by Karl Daniel Lidén at Studio Tri-Lamb, Sweden
Recording Studio
Monochrom Studio in Poland
Cover Art
Vadym “Karaska” Karasiov
Follow Stoned Jesus:
https://linktr.ee/stonedjesusband
https://music.apple.com/sg/artist/stoned-jesus/396799004
https://open.spotify.com/artist/23lyMLxYNPS15hpVvFNptR
instagram.com/stonedjesusband
http://facebook.com/stonedjesusband
twitter.com/stonedjesusband
https://www.tiktok.com/@stonedjesusband
youtube.com/c/StonedJesus
stonedjesus.bandcamp.com
Click image to watch the video
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