Album Review: Stoned Jesus – Songs to Moon

Album Review: Stoned Jesus – Songs to Moon

Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez

A trend is emerging in the Season Of Mist ecosystem. Album release trilogies with bands releasing a trio albums at relentless speed. We saw it with Green Carnation and the Dark Poem trio of albums. Now Ukraine’s Stoned Jesus are on the eve of releasing the second album in their trilogy, following up “Songs To Sun” with “Songs To Moon”. Though Stoned Jesus are doing anything but chasing trends with their sound that may be rooted in stoner metal, but reaches the psychedelic, progressive, and doom metal ends of the spectrum.

Stoned Jesus came sprinting out of the blocks with ‘Under The Skin’, with the pace thunderous and the wall of sound crushing and engulfing! Amazing considering how the band operates only as a 3 piece! The multiple layers of the vocals can be observed too, with all 3 members getting in on the action. Think Mastadon with one less guitar!

“Light Chaser, Eraser
Going For The One”

Listen to this once and you’ll see how quickly this chorus gets imprinted on your subconscious mind! Well, ‘chorus’ is used sparingly, as the song seems to operate in a series of non-repeating movements. Which is a nod to Stoned Jesus’ creativity.

The pace drops with ‘Velvet’ with the mood sombre and melancholic, though the guitar and bass remain potent and more than hold their own. If that was sombre, then ‘ZYK’ is a full blown serotonin drainer! This is just a different type of impactful though, different from the crushing overdrive and distortion from the album’s start.

Some of that earlier pace and momentum seems to get lost in ‘Syzygy’. Equally, it’s an opportunity for the vocals to take a break and let the psychedelic spice of the guitar and keys tell the story. Igor spoke of his love for classic rock bands Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, and whilst you can see this here, the vibe is more like that of Pink Floyd.

Igor also spoke of their desire to incorporate more of a theatrical quality in this record. They achieve that in ‘Jackal’, with the haunting ethereal vocals and repetitive lines ‘Go to sleep’ giving a pantomime villain-esque vibe, alongside the half spoken vocals! All before this built up tension is released in an escape valve at the song’s zenith and the crunching route one distorted guitars come back into the mix.

In some ways, I was leaning more towards the huge stoner walls of sound and didn’t really enjoy the quieter ambient segments. That being said, ‘Window In My Room’ and ‘One More Empty Day’ offer a much more soothing and relaxed aspect of the Stoned Jesus universe, giving a more radio friendly alternative rock aura, like that of REM. Songs that can be enjoyed in isolation from the rest of the album.

So, that’s Stoned Jesus. Definitely not a band for a quick dopamine hit. They’re complex, challenging, and converging far from the conventional path. What can we expect from the thirrd album in this trilogy?

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.