While they’ve blazed beyond the hot box of stoner metal, after 16 years, Stoned Jesus are still expanding their horizons. This week, the heavy progressive rockers are officially embarking on a three-album journey that will take them all the way to the sun, moon and back. Though created during a dark period of instability, the trilogy’s stunning opener, Songs to Sun, is guided by a burning passion for innovation that frontman Igor Sydorenko shares with his new bandmates.
“The melodies, the hooks, the progressive side coming together with the sheer joy of a band riding grooves”, The Obelisk writes of Songs to Sun in an early review. “…it’s a next-level, AOTY-contender-type outing”.
“This is an outstanding record from a band who are simply at THE TOP OF THEIR GAME and who deserve all the plaudits fully coming their way”, salutes Outlaws of the Sun.
Songs to Sun was released on September 19 on Season of Mist, and you can hear all six mind-melting tracks by listening to the full album stream on the Season of Mist YouTube channel:
“It’s time for Songs to Sun to arrive”, Sydorenko says. “The first part of The Songs Trilogy is one of our heaviest and intense yet eclectic and intricate collection of tracks to date. I’m extremely proud of presenting it to you all to enjoy. Can’t wait to play this material live, too. See you on the road!”
Order the album here: https://orcd.co/stonedjesussongtosun
Stoned Jesus are true trailblazers. Though often associated with the stoner crowd, frontman Igor Sydorenko has experimented with folk, prog, pop and alternative rock amidst familiar doses of doom. But after hitting the road hard in celebration of the band’s 15th anniversary, Sydorenko and his new mates set off for higher creative peaks.
“Each album in our upcoming trilogy highlights a different phase to Stoned Jesus”, Sydorenko says. “Songs to Sun shows off our heavier, more aggressive side”.
As if climbing above a mountain in the desert, massive opener “New Dawn” slowly appears on the horizon before bursting into flame behind a heavy psychedelic groove. More nods to Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest appear like a rippling heat wave throughout Songs to Sun. Lead single “Shadowland” slides into Sydorenko’s catchiest riff since “Here Come the Robots”, though he and his new mates outrun their demons with a gothic spell of keys before breaking toward the light with a high-powered fusion of pop melodies and headbanging prog.
An existential shadow hangs over Songs to Sun. The album reflects the unstable ground that Sydorenko navigated once the band’s previous lineup dissolved. “There’s a constant sense of instability that seeps through the lyrics of Songs to Sun“, he says. “Lost in the Rain” dwells on a break-up amidst a shimmering ballad that finds the sweet spot between Pink Floyd and King Crimson. Even the rubber-burning “See You on the Road” puts the pedal to the metal despite the grind of life on tour.
But even though Songs to Sun provides plenty of headbanging moments, it’s the love for experimenting with their music that continues to give the members of Stoned Jesus a rock-solid foundation. “This is probably the happiest I’ve been creatively in Stoned Jesus”, Sydorenko says. “With both Andrew and Yuri now in the band, we can experiment as deep as we can”. “Low” breaks away from people-pleasing tendencies by doing something the band has never done before. Andrew Rodin holds down the low end with a climbing bass line and punishing backing vocals, only for Yurii Ciel to blow the song wide open with a torrential rush of blast beats.
“I’m tired of ideals, they’re fragile and unreal”, Sydorenko bristles as Songs to Sun begins to set. While the only time when the amps aren’t cranked to 11, “Quicksand” is not only the longest but also the album’s heaviest song. Written many years ago, but deemed too personal to share until now, its prickly acoustics strip away any and all pre-conceptions as Stoned Jesus prepare for the dark next phase of this epic journey.
“Songs to Sun merges the groovy intensity of stoner metal with the profound intricacies of vintage prog, while keeping the riffs and the choruses as catchy as ever” Sydorenko says. “One will hear a lot of new twists and turns. Being able to experiment is the only way to progress for me and the boys in the band”.
On Songs to Sun, Stoned Jesus set their heavy progressive rock to stun.
Tracklist
1. New Dawn (8:53)
2. Shadowland (4:38) [WATCH]
3. Lost in the Rain (7:49)
4. Low (4:09) [WATCH]
5. See You on the Road (5:45)
6. Quicksand (9:52)
Hear Stoned Jesus perform “Low”, “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
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
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