Stoned Jesus are true trailblazers. While often associated with the stoner crowd, the heavy progressive rockers have experimented with folk, prog, pop and alternative rock amidst familiar doses of doom. Last year, the band entered the first phase of an expansive album trilogy that promises to take them from the sun to the moon and back. Songs to Sun was named one of the best albums of 2025 by Doom Charts, Rock Hard, The Obelisk and other outlets. Now, as frontman Igor Sydorenko and his bandmates prepare to blaze through the European summer festival circuit, they’re cycling into the next phase of their evolution.
Today, Stoned Jesus are releasing a new single. Though packed with the band’s reliable dose of heaviness, the progressive post-metal contained within “Under the Skin” shows them entering the darkest, most daring and deeply moving territory of their 17-year career.
“Our upcoming album trilogy started last year with Songs to Sun, which is a loud and heavy album that’s big on choruses and meaty riffs”, Sydorenko says before turning to Stoned Jesus’ latest single. “‘Under the Skin’ begins our next phase in a somewhat similar fashion, but with a sinister twist. The fans of the very first SJ demo will recognize the influence of post-metal, which resurfaced after our tour last summer with the legendary Cult of Luna. But “Under the Skin” is not a step back. It’s darker, bolder and more introspective than anything the band has done before”.
Stream “Under the Skin”: https://orcd.co/stonedjesusundertheskin
The video for “Under the Skin” was edited by Marco Menestrina.
On the surface, “Under the Skin” picks up right where Stoned Jesus left off. The sinking anxiety that swallowed Songs to Sun gives way here to heavy breathing. And while catchy as ever, the song’s weighty riff isn’t the only dark force that’s rattling inside Sydorenko’s head. “I feel it, it’s creeping in”, he strains, backed by bassist Andrew Rodin, who adds some of the harshest vocals the band have ever pressed to wax.
The video for “Under the Skin” was filmed while Stoned Jesus were recording in Cologne, Germany at Goblin Sound Studio with sound engineer Andy Rosczyk (ex-Ultha). Despite the song’s bleary state of mind (“Promises to keep / I will never sleep”), the band never lose their glow. As drummer Yurii Ciel guides them through a proggy middle passage that leads deeper into the shadows, we catch a glimpse not only into their psyche but the shape of what’s to come. “Sky glider, gone wilder / With the setting sun”.
Catch Stoned Jesus this summer on the European festival circuit.
Stoned Jesus 2026 European Festival Dates
June 19 – Clisson, France @ Hellfest [TICKETS]
June 27 – Betanzos, Spain @ Fumega Fest [TICKETS]
July 3 – Gisors, France @ Kave Fest [TICKETS]
July 11 – Trieste, Italy @ StonerKras Fest [TICKETS]
August 8 – Rome, Italy @ Roma Stone Fest [TICKETS]
August 29 – Teramo, Italy @ Suburbiae Festival [TICKETS]
September 25 – London, UK @ StoomFest [TICKETS]
Songs to Sun is out now on Season of Mist. Order: https://orcd.co/stonedjesussongtosun
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 arrived in 2025 as 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 nodded 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 brought the many distinct phases of Stoned Jesus to a bright, burning head. The album was named one of the best the year by Doom Charts, Rock Hard, The Obelisk, Weedian, Metal Lair and other outlets.
In 2026, Stoned Jesus are moving into the darkest, most daring and deeply moving phase of their career, starting with the band’s latest single “Under the Skin”.
Recording Lineup
Igor Sydorenko – Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Andrew Rodin – Bass, Backing Vocals
Yurii Ciel – Drums, Backing Vocals
Live Lineup
Igor Sydorenko – Vocals, Guitar
Andrew Rodin – Bass, Backing Vocals
Ihor Biriuchenko – Drums, Percussion
Production Credits
Producer – Igor Sydorenko
Sound Engineer – Andy Rosczyk
Mixing and Mastering Engineer – Karl Daniel Lidén
Recording Studio: Goblin Sound Studio in Cologne, Germany
Mixing and Mastering Studio
Studio Tri-Lamb, Sweden
Cover Art: Vadym “Karaska” Karasiov
Follow Stoned Jesus
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/stonedjesusband
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/stoned-jesus/396799004
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/23lyMLxYNPS15hpVvFNptR
Instagram: instagram.com/stonedjesusband
Facebook: http://facebook.com/stonedjesusband
Twitter: twitter.com/stonedjesusband
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stonedjesusband
YouTube: youtube.com/c/StonedJesus
Bandcamp: stonedjesus.bandcamp.com
