Stoned Jesus – 'Songs To Moon' review: A darker second part of the trilogy
A year after 'Songs To Sun', the Ukrainian trio returns with seven new songs – heavier, grungier, proggier. Metal Hammer gives it 5 out of 7.
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Single video: YouTube · Season of Mist · youtube.com
Single: Velvet
Stoned Jesus released their album 'Songs To Moon' on Season of Mist on 16 October. It is the second part of a planned trilogy that began in 2025 with 'Songs To Sun'. The seven songs were recorded by Igor Sydorenko (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards), Andrew Rodin (bass) and Yurii Ciel (drums). Sydorenko calls the material 'bolder, more haunting and introspective than anything we've done before'.
About the single 'Velvet', which comes with a 90s-style video, Sydorenko said: 'This song answers the question: What if Nirvana was shoegaze?' He describes the almost seven-minute 'Jackal' as Stoned Jesus 'at our most theatrical'.
Metal Hammer awards 5 out of 7. Writer Helen Lindenmann almost misses the partly jazzy lightness of the outstanding predecessor on the heavy, fuzzy opener 'Under The Skin'. She finds the following 'Velvet', with its catchy melancholy, more pleasant; from 'ZYX' onwards the record heads towards grunge and prog. She sees the band's refusal to settle on one genre as a strength: the mix, she writes, is well worth the journey.