Album Review: Stoned Jesus - Songs to Sun
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
One of the highlights of my first visit to 2025 edition of Desertfest London, was finally getting to see a band that I have admired for a long time, Ukrainian heavy rock trio Stoned Jesus. With their unique brand of genre defying songs, they have become a firm favourite of mine, with wonderful tracks like “Here Come the Robots” and “I’m the Mountain”, so I eagerly snapped this one up to review
Sadly, there was no new music played when I saw them in May, but they draw you into their world, with Igor Sydorenko at the forefront like a master of ceremonies welcoming you into his lair. With Andrew Rodin and bass and Yurii Ciel on drums, the band are now poised to take their message further than ever before, with 6 new songs that are quite simply, brilliant.
We are heralded to a “New Dawn” and greeted by a single guitar intro from Sydorenko which seduces you to the point where you almost melt. It’s poignant and dramatic, wistful and mesmerising in equal amounts, before the haunting vocal begins with the words “Ten hours to drive, cutting the night like a knife”. They have that big sound when called upon, but the time flies by so quickly and we are introduced to “Shadowland”. It has a crushing melody and is a song so full of confidence and swagger that that when he asks “will you join me here in Shadowland” I’m sure they’ll be inundated with people saying yes please!
They have a very distinctive guitar sound, honed and perfected over many years and have brought elements of prog to merge with some of the catchiest choruses they’ve ever done, and the results are truly epic. “Lost in the Rain” is a song with minimal words, but concentrate on the composition, the notes are perfectly aligned to create an emotional and powerful song that pulls at your heart strings. They get a bit raucous on “Low” with that Stoned Jesus intensity coming fully to the core. The bass line is immense and a real driving force behind the song and when the lyrics are screamed at full pelt by Igor, it will resonate with so many. It’s my favourite track on the album, but it is surrounded by worldies from start to finish.
There’s a tension building at the start of “See You on the Road” and it gives the trio an opportunity to fully explode with riffs aplenty accompanied by a soaring rhythm. I’m imagining that this is a song all about the delights/troubles of touring with the precise words of “Sun’s up, I’ve got to leave for another place” and will become a firm favourite when it’s played for fans everywhere as it’s an absolute belter.
The journey must come to an end eventually, and for me it comes way too soon, but they leave us with a behemoth of a track entitled “Quicksand”. It’s nearly 10 minutes long, with an acoustic guitar adding something different, and alongside the array of softly spoken lyrics, rumbling bass, and dynamic drumming, it creates a deeply atmospheric song. They are tired about a lot of things, and the anger and frustration are evident as it builds up to fever pitch and the prophetic words “to become what you hate the most” are repeated. It takes a while to recover from this, but the best thing to do is to play it again from the beginning and rejoice in the masterpiece that is “Songs to Sun”.
