Veterans of Nasoni Records and Robustfellow Productions and now signed to Interstellar Smoke Records, the Kyiv-based heavy rock/psych trio Risin Sabotage announce the release of their new album, Macabre. Set to arrive on June 2, the album emerges as the band’s first following 2017’s prescient Planet Dies (discussed here) and features material dating back at least to 2018, when the included-on-the-record “Serpent” was issued as a standalone single. Fair enough.
Macabre, as a title, is a decent way to describe how it’s felt to — while at a far off geographic remove — watch for the last year as Russia has scaled up its invasion of Ukraine into an actual war rather than the casually cruel annexation of territory it had been since circa 2014. The album remains colorful in its psychedelic purpose, and fascinates with a blend of garage rock, shimmering, floating leads over solidified grooves, and a density of tone that underpins a song like “Mentor” or the payoff of the spacious “Hum” with resonance that adds depth to the mix and results in a fascinating, engrossing blend across the 40 minutes of the album as a whole.
In addition to war returning to Europe and the global pandemic that I’ll go out on a limb and assume you heard something about, the years since their last offering have seen Risin Sabotage part ways with singer Kirill Chepilko, with guitarist Vitya Panchishko and drummer Igor Nedyuzhiy taking over vocal duties and the band pressing on as a trio. Doesn’t seem to have slowed them down any, if the single “Silence Queen” — premiering at the bottom of this post — is anything to go by. The meld of lysergic breadth and rhythmic force is deceptively immersive, and though none of the tracks are especially lengthy, there’s still a sense of world-creation to coincide with the raw push of their more intense moments.
They talk about it as nine songs below and the version I got has 10, but there’s plenty of time between now and June to sort these things out. Initial info follows, from the PR wire:
RISIN SABOTAGE – Macabre – Interstellar Smoke Records
Says the band: “The album was written during the time of the global pandemic and mastered during the currently ongoing war in our country, Ukraine. These events have definitely affected the sound and, as a result, the title of this album. The release features nine songs that tell nine stories. Some of them put you in the atmosphere of today’s horrors, and others help you escape them.”
About “Silence Queen”: “It’s broken, it’s not alive, it fades away, but it’s beautiful, unique, and it drags you in.”
Kyiv based Risin Sabotage slams with heavy psych and desert rock since 2015. In the quest for a new sound the music is giving the best of desert rock, heavy psych, stoner and doom. Risin Sabotage’s fuzzy riffs and grooves inspired by the sounds of 70’s astound with the incredible energetic performance.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
To be sure, this is information that would’ve been handy to have yesterday, when I posted Stoned Jesus‘ new single “Thoughts and Prayers”, but, well, I was already days late on that news and so this coming in on what seems like such a quick turnaround isn’t actually that quick a turnaround at all. I’m just trying not to be behind, which I’ve been already since last week (or like four years ago?) and so posting this now rather than letting it sit. If you could see the Google Doc that I use to keep my notes in where I organize my days, weeks, months, it would make probably only a little more sense, but still a little more.
Check out Stoned Jesus though, keeping good company with Elephant Tree, Psychlona, Samavayo, and fellow Ukrainians and Season of Mist labelmates Somali Yacht Club, as they head out on the beginning of their tour cycle supporting the upcoming album, Father Light, which, as noted yesterday, is out March 3. They’ll do Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Italy — Torino and Bologna — and hit Sonic Whip in the Netherlands, which I hope is recorded this year as well as it was last year, resulting in live releases from Elephant Tree, among others.
These won’t be the last shows Stoned Jesus announce supporting Father Light, but this’ll be their first tour following the album’s arrival, so here are the dates as seen on the social medias. You’ll find the three album singles streaming at the bottom of this post:
Behold the first cities of #FatherLightTour – with more dates and territories to be added along the way! Looking forward to share the stage with Somali Yacht Club, Elephant Tree and Samavayo and to play the new and the old songs for y’all :)
28.04.23 (AT) Innsbruck, pmk (w/Elephant Tree) 29.04.23 (IT) Bologne, Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2023 30.04.23 (IT) Turin, Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2023 01.05.23 (CH) Aarau, KIFF (w/Elephant Tree) 02.05.23 -TBA- 03.05.23 (DE) Stuttgart, Goldmark’s 04.05.23 (DE) Fulda, Kulturkeller (w/Samavayo) 05.05.23 (DE) Cologne, Club Volta (w/Somali Yacht Club & Psychlona) 06.05.23 (NL) Nijmegen, Sonic Whip 07.05.23 (DE) Hannover, Faust (w/Samavayo) 08.05.23 (DE) Dresden, Beatpol (w/Samavayo) 09.05.23 (CZ) Brno, Kabinet MUZ
Recording line-up Igor Sydorenko (Arlekin, Voida, Krobak, Snakerider) – lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, organ on track 3 Dmytro Zinchenko (Doomed City, Orkectr Che, Sekunda Kota, Smeyushiysa Tigr, Small Depo) – drums and percussion, backing vocals Sergii Sliusar – bass, backing vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
There’s a fair amount of important info included in the blue PR wire text below. I mean, important if you’re looking forward to the new Stoned Jesus album, Father Light, anyhow. If not, I might ask why you’re reading this, or maybe you just kind of stumbled on this site out of the blue researching ancient phallic monuments? If so, hi. This site isn’t so much about monuments as heavy rock and roll, and Stoned Jesus are a band from Kyiv, Ukraine, about to put out their fifth album, called Father Light, through Season of Mist, which is a long-running and well-respected underground record label specializing mostly but not exclusively in metal, on March 3. I think you’re pretty much caught up.
Anyway, among the prudent details — that release date, the preorder links, recording info and so on, is the fact that the new single “Thoughts and Prayers” was written in 2019. That means before the plague, and more specifically to Stoned Jesus‘ situation, before Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 2022 invasion of Ukraine. With a pointedly Graveyardian sway — Graveyard are a band from Sweden who play a very blues-informed kind of heavy rock specifically derived from bands of the early ’70s — “Thoughts and Prayers” examines our experience of the tragedies of others, the numbing effect of social media and life behind a screen. The lyrics of the chorus, “In gardens of stone/We die alone/Waiting for someone to guide us back home/But nobody’s there/And nobody cares/Our only answer is still thoughts and prayers,” should tell you a lot about where they’re coming from.
That the song has become more relevant since the time it was written is testament to its relevance in the first place. It is one of six tracks on Father Light and the third single to be released ahead of the album’s arrival behind “CON” and “Porcelain,” both of the videos for which are also streaming below. If you listen through those and think to yourself, “Hey, each of these songs sounds kind of like it’s doing something different,” that’s on purpose and the disparity is no less a running theme throughout Father Light than the band’s engagement with their proggier tendencies and the straight-up heavy riffing on which they made their rather weighty name. Wait until you spend 11 minutes with “Season of the Witch.”
From the PR wire:
STONED JESUS Premieres Music Video for New Song, Reveals New Album Details
Ukrainian psychedelic rock trio STONED JESUS will release its new album, ‘Father Light,’ on March 3, 2023 via Season of Mist, making it the band’s debut to the label! The band is now sharing a music video for its brand new song, “Thoughts and Prayers.” The song and video can be found at THIS LOCATION while album art and other details can be found below!
Lead vocalist and guitarist Igor Sydorenko comments: “I wrote these songs mostly in 2019, we worked on them through 2020, recorded them in 2021 and were ready to release them in 2022…and finally the first batch of them is coming out as ‘Father Light’ in 2023! So this is neither our ‘pandemic’ nor our ‘war’ record, this is something I was really obsessed about many months ago – climate change, media numbness, corporations’ impact, social divisions…
“But revisiting these issues years later shows that they’re still important and this is still something that resonates with us – and hopefully will resonate with many other people, too. Musically, I think this is our most diverse and mature record to date, but there’s a good dose of old school Stoned Jesus there too!
“Anyway, enjoy this one and fingers crossed for 2024’s release of ‘Mother Dark’ – the moodier, more personal, more experimental sister album to ‘Father Light.'”
Recording studio – Spivaki Records, Ukraine Producer / sound engineer – Artem Altunin and Dmytro Zinchenko Mastering: Metropolis Studio, London, UK – Andy “Hippy” Baldwin
Shot at the club Hydrozagadka (Warsaw, PL) hours before actual Stoned Jesus concert there. Camera work by true fans and filmmakers from Poland Aleksander Kwapień and Stasiek Nietrzebka. “Thoughts and Prayers” video edited by Sergii Sliusar (who also happens to play bass for Stoned Jesus since late 2010). “Thoughts and Prayers” track recorded and mixed in 2021 by Dmytro Zinchenko (who actually plays drums in Stoned Jesus since mid-2017). “Thoughts and Prayers” song written in 2019 by Igor Sydorenko (who sings and plays guitar for Stoned Jesus, which he started back in 2009 as a solo bedroom project).
Tracklist “Father Light” 1. Father Light 03:35 2. Season of the Witch 11:34 3. Thought and Prayers 06:22 4. Porcelain 08:09 5. CON 04:10 6. Get What You Deserve 09:08
Total: 43:00
STONED JESUS recently announced their appearance on the mighty Hellfest of 2023! More information on tours/festival for 2023 will be announced on a later stage.
Recording line-up Igor Sydorenko (Arlekin, Voida, Krobak, Snakerider) – lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, organ on track 3 Dmytro Zinchenko (Doomed City, Orkectr Che, Sekunda Kota, Smeyushiysa Tigr, Small Depo) – drums and percussion, backing vocals Sergii Sliusar – bass, backing vocals
Posted in Reviews on September 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I’m in it. The only reason I even know what day it is is because I keep notes and I set up the back end of these posts ahead of time. They tell me what number I’m on. As for the rest, it’s blinders and music, all all all. Go. Go. Go. I honestly don’t even know why I still write these intro paragraphs. I just do. You know the deal, right? 10 records yesterday, 10 today, 10 more tomorrow. At some point it ends. At some point it begins again. Presumably before then I’ll figure out what day it is.
Quarterly Review #71-80:
James Romig & Mike Scheidt, The Complexity of Distance
James Romig is a Pulitzer-finalist composer, and Mike Scheidt is the founding guitarist/vocalist of YOB. I refuse to cut-and-paste-pretend at understanding all the theory put into the purported ’13:14:15′ ratio of beat cycles throughout The Complexity of Distance — or, say, just about any of it — but the resulting piece is about 57 minutes of Scheidt‘s guitar work, as recorded by Billy Barnett (YOB‘s regular producer). It is presented as a single track, and with the (obviously intentional) chord progressions in Romig‘s piece, “The Complexity of Distance” is a huge drone. If you ever wanted to hear Scheidt do earlier-style Earth guitar work — yes, duh — then this might satisfy that curiosity. There’s high-culture intersecting with low here in a way that takes Scheidt out of it creatively — that is to say, Romig did the composing — but I won’t take away from the work in concept or performance, or even the result. Hell, I’ll listen to Mike Scheidt riff around for 57 minutes. It’ll be the best 57 minutes of my god damned day. Perhaps that’s not universal, but I don’t think Romig‘s looking for radio hits. Whether you approach it on that theory level or as a sonic meditation, the depths welcome you. I’d take another Scheidt solo record someday too, though. Just saying.
Copenhagen’s Mythic Sunship turned Light/Flux around so quick after 2021’s Wildfire (review here) they didn’t even have time to take a new promo photo. There is no question the Danish five-piece have been on a tear for a few years now, and their ascent into the psych-jazz fusion ether continues with Light/Flux, marrying its gotta-happen-right-this-second urgency to a patience in the actual unfolding of songs like the sax’ed out “Aurora” and the more guitar-led “Blood Moon” at the outset — light — with the cosmic triumphalist horn and crashes of “Decomposition” leading off side B and moving into the hey-where’d-you-come-from boogie of “Tempest,” presumably flux. Each half of the record ends with a standout, as “Equinox” follows “Blood Moon” with a more space rock-feeling takeoff pulse, right up to the synth sweep that starts at about 2:50, and “First Frost” gives high and low float gracefully over steady toms like different dreams happening at the same time and then merging in purpose as the not-overblown crescendo locks in. May their momentum carry them ever forward if they’re going to produce at this level.
What a fascinating direction the progression of Sweden’s Deville has taken these 15 years after Come Heavy Sleep. Heavy Lies the Crown finds the Swedish journeymen aligned to Sixteentimes Music for the follow-up to 2018’s Pigs With Gods (review here), and is through its eight tracks in a dense-toned, impact-minded 33 minutes with nary a second to spare in cuts like “Killing Time” and “Unlike You” and “A Devil Around Your Neck.” Their push and aggressive edge reminds of turn-of-the-century Swedish heavy rockers like Mustasch or Mother Misery, and even in “Hands Tied” and “Serpent Days” — the two longest cuts on Heavy Lies the Crown, appearing in succession on side A — they maintain an energy level fostered by propulsive drums and a rampant drive toward immediacy rather than flourish, but neither does the material feel rushed or unconsidered right up to the final surprising bit of spaciousness in “Pray for More,” which loosens up the throttle a bit while still holding onto an underlying chug, some last progressive angularity perhaps to hint at another stage to come. One way or the other, in craft and delivery, Deville remain reliable without necessarily being predictable, which is a rare balance to strike, particularly for a band who’ve never made the same record twice.
Guitarist/vocalist Bill Jenkins and bassist Matthew Kahn hail from Kingsnake (begat by Sugar Daddie in days of yore), drummer Michael Scarpone played in Wizard Eye, and guitarist Christopher Wojcik made a splash a few years back in King Bison, so yes, dudes have been around. Accordingly, Superdeluxe know off the bat where their grooves are headed on this five-song self-titled EP, with centerpiece “Earth” nodding toward a somewhat inevitable Clutch influence — thinking “Red Horse Rainbow” specifically — and seeming to acknowledge lyrically this as the project’s beginning point in “Popular Mechanix,” driving somewhat in the vein of Freedom Hawk but comfortably paced as “Destructo Facto” and “Severed Hand” are at the outset of the 19-minute run. “Ride” finishes out with a lead line coursing over its central figure before a stop brings the chorus, swing and swagger and a classic take on that riff — Sabbath‘s “Hole in the Sky,” Goatsnake‘s “Trower”; everybody deserves a crack at it at least once — familiar and weighted, but raw enough in the production to still essentially be a demo. Nonetheless, veteran players, new venture, fun to be had and hopefully more to come.
Based in Berlin and featuring bassist Cozza, formerly of Melbourne, Australia’s Riff Fist, alongside guitarist Moseph and drummer 666tin, Esel are an instrumentalist three-piece making their full-length debut with the live-recorded and self-produced Asinus. An eight-tracker spanning 38 minutes, it’s rough around the edges in terms of sound, but that only seems to suit the fuzz in both the guitar and bass, adding a current of noise alongside the low end being pushed through both as well as the thud of 666tin‘s toms and kick. They play fast, they play slow, they roll the wheel rather than reinvent it, but there’s charm here amid the doomier “Donkey Business” — they’ve got a lot of ‘ass’ stuff going on, including the opener “Ass” and the fact that their moniker translates from German as “donkey” — and the sprawling into maddening crashes “A Biss” later on, which precedes the minute-long finale “The Esel Way Out.” Want to guess what it is? Did you guess noise and feedback? If you did, your prize is to go back to the start and hear the crow-call letters of the band’s name and the initial slow nod of “Ass” all over again. I’m going to do my best not to make a pun about getting into it, but, well, I’ve already failed.
With riffs to spare and spacious vibes besides, London instrumentalists Blue Tree Monitor offer Cryptids, working in a vein that feels specifically born out of their hometown’s current sphere of heavy. Across the sprawl of “Siberian Sand” at the beginning of the five-song/38-minute debut album, one can hear shades of some of the Desertscene-style riffing for which Steak has been an ambassador, and certainly there’s no shortage of psych and noise around to draw from either, as the cacophonous finish manifests. But big is the idea as much as broad, and sample-topped centerpiece “Sasquatch” (also the longest cut at 8:41) is a fine example of how to do both, complete with fuzzy largesse and a succession of duly plodding-through-the-woods riffs. “Antlion” feels laid back in the guitar but contrasts with the drums, and the closer “Seven” is more straight-ahead heavy rock riffing until its second half gets a little more into noise rock before its final hits, so maybe the book isn’t entirely closed on where they’ll go sound-wise, but so much the better for listening to something with multifaceted potential in the present. To put it another way, they sound like a new band feeling their way forward through their songs, and that’s precisely what one would hope for as they move forward from here.
Vigilant in conveying the Brooklynite unit’s progressive intentions, from the synthy-sounding freakout at the end of “Wavelength Synchronizer” to the angular beginning of “Conglobulations,” Incubation is the first two-songer offering from Astrometer, who boast in their ranks members of Hull, Meek is Murder and Bangladeafy. The marriage of sometimes manically tense riffing and a more open keyboard line overhead works well on the latter track, but one would at no point accuse Astrometer of not getting their point across, and with ready-for-a-7″ efficiency, since the whole thing takes just about seven and a half minutes out of your busy day. I’m fairly sure they’ve had some lineup jumbling since this was recorded — there may be up to three former members of Hull there now, and that’s a hoot also audible in the guitars — but notice is served in any case, and the way the ascending frenetic chug of the guitar gives way to the keyboard solo in “Wavelength Synchronizer” is almost enough on its own to let you know that there’s a plan at work. See also the melodic, almost post-rock-ish floating notes above the fray at the start of “Conglobulations.” I bought the download. I’d buy a tape. You guys got tapes? Shirts?
Somewhere between a solo-project and an actual band is Oldest Sea. Led by songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer Sam Marandola — joined throughout the four tracks of debut EP Strange and Eternal by lead guitarist/drummer Andrew Marandola and on 10-minute closer “The Whales” by bassist Jay Mazzillo — the endeavor is atmospherically weighted and given a death-doom-ish severity through the echoing snare on “Consecration,” only after opener “Final Girl” swells in distortion and melody alike until receding for string-style ambience, which might be keyboard, might be guitar, might be cello, I don’t know. Marandola also performs as a solo folk artist and one can hear that in her approach to the penultimate “I’ll Take What’s Mine,” but in the focus on atmosphere here, as well as the patience of craft across differing methodologies in what’s still essentially an initial release — if nothing before it proves the argument, certainly “The Whales” does — one hears shades of the power SubRosa once wielded in bringing together mournful melody and doomed tradition to suit purposes drawing from American folk and post-metallic weight. At 25 minutes, I’m tempted to call it an album for its sheer substance. Instead I’ll hang back and just wait and get my hopes up for when that moment actually comes.
Based in Austria with roots in Canada, Spain and Sweden, Weddings are vocalist/guitarist Jay Brown, vocalist/drummer Elena Rodriguez and bassist Phil Nordling, and whether it’s the grunge turnaround on second cut “Hunter” or the later threatening-to-be-goth-rock of “Running Away” — paired well with “Talk is Cheap” — the trio are defined in no small part by the duet-style singing of Brown and Rodriguez. The truly fortunate part of listening to their sophomore LP, Book of Spells, is that they can also write a song. Opener “Hexenhaus” signals a willful depth of atmosphere that comes through on “Sleep” and the acoustic-led gorgeousness of “Tundra,” and so on, but they’re not shy about a hook either, as in “Greek Fire,” “Hunter,” “Running Away” and closer “Into the Night” demonstrate. Mood and texture are huge throughout Book of Spells, but the effect of the whole is duly entrancing, and the prevailing sense from their individual parts is that either Brown or Rodriguez could probably front the band on their own, but Weddings are a more powerful and entrancing listen for the work they do together throughout. Take a deep breath before you jump in here.
A classic rock spirit persists across the nine songs of The Heavy Crawls‘ sophomore full-length, Searching for the Sun, as the Kyiv-based trio of guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Max Tovstyi, bassist/backing vocalist Serj Manernyi and drummer/backing vocalist Tobi Samuel offer nods to the likes of the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, among others, with a healthy dose of their own fuzz to coincide. The organ-laced title-track sounds like it was recorded on a stage, if it wasn’t, and no matter where the trio end up — looking at you, Sabbath-riffed “Stoner Song” — the material is tied together through the unflinchingly organic nature of their presentation. They’re not hiding anything here. No tricks. No BS. They’re writing their own songs, to be sure, but whether it’s the funky “I Don’t Know” or the languid psych rollout of “Take Me Higher” (it picks up in the second half) that immediately follows, they put everything they’ve got right up front for the listener to take in, make of it what they will, and rock out accordingly, be it to the mellow “Out of My Head” or the stomping “Evil Side (Of Rock ‘n’ Roll) or the sweet, sweet guitar-solo-plus-organ culmination of “1,000 Problems.” Take your pick, really. You’re in good hands no matter what.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
A little curious that even though Ukrainian heavy rock forerunners Stoned Jesus have issued two singles/videos from their upcoming Season of Mist label debut, Father Light, in “Porcelain” and “CON” — both streaming below — no actual release date for the album has been announced. Of course, I say this even as the Kyiv trio announce a new stretch of November touring, and I’m writing before the daily glut of 10AM East Coast US press releases come in, so it could well be that word of such a thing will come through after this is posted — that kind of thing happens from time to time; I see something on a band’s socials and jump the gun with what later turns out to be half the news and need to adjust — probably about five minutes after, if past is prologue. I hear going on tour around an album launch is a thing that happens, so it would make sense.
And you’ll no doubt note that they’ll do cuts from the largely inescapable Seven Thunders Roar even as they play new songs — I very much enjoy how stubbornly not-stoner everything they’ve done since has been — and one assumes they’ll find welcome either way. They’re Ukraine’s biggest export in heavy rock, and even the fact that they’re calling the run with countrymen VOVK the ‘Heavy Resistance’ tour speaks to the fact that they know it. Guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko has been outspoken on social media in providing historical and cultural context to the Russian war of aggression in his home nation that’s been going on for the last seven months, up to and including launching the Jams for Victory series, a third installment of which has been released.
Tour announcement follows, and again, if and when word shows up about the record, I’ll let you know.
Here you go:
Your favourite psych/grunge/doom/prog trio is back on the road! STONED JESUS are going on Heavy Resistance tour in November, playing live shows in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. Apart from playing the now-legendary Seven Thunders Roar (2012) material, we will premiere new tracks from our upcoming fifth LP (including recently released “Porcelain” and “CON”).
Joining us are fellow Ukrainians VOVK (post-metal/progstoner), who are currently working on the follow-up to their debut album Lair (2019). By visiting the show you can not only enjoy the music but also support Ukraine and help us win on the cultural front as well!
10.11 Kablys – Vilnius, LT 11.11 Sveta Baar – Tallinn, EE 12.11 Vagonu Haal – Riga, LV 13.11 Lemmy – Kaunas, LT 14.11 Drizzly Grizzly – Gdansk, PL 15.11 Pod Minoga – Poznan, PL 16.11 Hybrydy – Warsaw, PL 17.11 Fuga – Bratislava, SK 18.11 Form Space – Cluj-Napoca, RO 19.11 Mixtape 5 – Sofia, BG 20.11 Expirat – Bucharest, RO
Poster by Soares Artwork
Line-up: Lead-Vocals and Guitar: Igor Sydorenko Bass and backing vocals: Sergii Sliusar Drums and backing vocals: Dmytro Zinchenko
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Earlier this month, a trio of Ukrainian musicians came together as Jam for Victory and released a collection of improvised tracks (discussed here) in order to raise funds for wartime charities responding to the Russian invasion that’s been going on since February (and actually much longer). Igor Sydorenko, best known as guitarist/vocalist of Stoned Jesus, has taken the lead on the project — from behind, on drums, in this case — and has a new group involved of Ukrainian musicians assembled, with members of Ghost Cities and Ignea on board for the new jam session, aptly titled Vol. II as a follow-up release.
Different players mean different personalities musically, of course, and the inclusion of sax and synth is a marked distinguishing factor between the first session and this one, but you and I both know what’s up here. It’s a jam recorded on a phone. If you’re going to bitch about the audio fidelity, you missed the point
The point is buy the fucking thing at (at least) the asking price and know that in addition to supporting cool players with a righteous idea, you’re helping cash get to where it needs to be on the ground in Ukraine.
Until the next one:
JAM FOR VICTORY is an opportunity for everyone in the Ukrainian music underground scene to try and remember what it is to be a musician in these terrifying times. They never played with each other before, so it’s all pretty spontaneous! All proceeds go to local Ukrainian charities, so feel free to support us in any way possible. Enjoy and share!
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
As Kyiv’s Stoned Jesus unveil the first audio from their new album to see release hopefully soon as their debut on Season of Mist, one can’t help especially thinking of the fragility of porcelain itself but be reminded of the fact that the trio should’ve been on an extensive European tour this Spring if not for the ongoing brutalization of their home nation at the hands of Russian forces. Here in the US, the propaganda is pervasive and on the Ukrainian side — doesn’t take much for America to go anti-Russia, even though America pretty much pulls all the same bullshit, just on Black and Brown people — but even considering that it’s hard not to consider the lost homes and lost lives as a crime against humanity. Warcrimes. Think there will be any tangible consequences? Were there from the US’ war in Afghanistan or Iraq? For the Americans, I mean.
If you’d say “keep politics out of music”: All things are political. Grow up.
This song rules, and Igor is right when he calls out Porcupine Tree — can hear some In Absentia in the atmosphere — for “Porcelain,” and the percussive bent that underscores the driving riff could be Swans drawn. To me it sounds more like Stoned Jesus acknowledging their prog leanings of recent years while reengaging with the riffier methods of their early work. Finding a balance, maybe. Mountain climbing in their own way.
Ukrainian sludge rock trio STONED JESUS is now releasing a brand new song, “Porcelain!” The song and visualizer, which was created by the band, can be found at THIS LOCATION.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Igor Sydorenko comments: “‘Porcelain’ was one of the last songs I brought to my bandmates for the upcoming album, and they loved it instantly! In fact, we all loved this track so much we decided we’d play it live even before the album’s out, so now it makes all the sense releasing it as a single. People told me it sounds like 2000s PORCUPINE TREE covering 2010s SWANS but to me it’s just another amazing chapter in the STONED JESUS songbook. Hope you’ll enjoy it too!”
The song is taken from the band’s new upcoming album, for which the details will be revealed at a later date. Stay tuned!
“Porcelain” can be pre-saved across streaming platforms HERE: https://orcd.co/stonedjesus-porcelain
Line-up: Lead-Vocals and Guitar: Igor Sydorenko Bass and backing vocals: Sergii Sliusar Drums and backing vocals: Dmytro Zinchenko
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Ukrainian heavy rockers Stoned Jesus have inked a deal to release their next album and perhaps more through Season of Mist. The Kyiv-based trio follow quickly in the footsteps of countrymen and tour-mates Somali Yacht Club in aligning with the label, and their fifth full-length will follow behind 2018’s Pilgrims (review here), which was their most ambitious and progressive-sounding offering to-date. I’ve been looking forward to the new stuff since they entered the studio last July, and if I’m honest, before that as well.
It’s impossible to get out of this post (nor would I try) without mentioning that Stoned Jesus‘ home country has been invaded for the last month-plus (years, really) by neighboring Russian military forces. If you follow the band or guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko on social media, you’ve already seen first-hand accounts of their current life in Ukraine, a question more of surviving than promoting their band. Their Spring tour with Samavayo, which was set to begin at the end of next week, was canceled owing to the fighting and the band’s very real need to be where they currently are. For what it’s worth — next to nothing — I wish them the best and hope this little bit of good news heralds more to come on the more serious issues they and their nation are facing. It seems low-stakes to compare heavy rock and war, but these are lives we’re talking about either way.
Season of Mist is proud to announce the signing of psychedelic rock trio STONED JESUS. Forged in Kyiv in 2009, this Ukrainian band submerges themselves in the world of doom, grunge and prog, while maintaining their own identity. Their upcoming album will be the fifth in line and the first to be released through Season Of Mist.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Igor Sydorenko comments: “I’ve always been a huge fan of progressive music – progressive not in the number of notes played per second, but progressive in terms of songwriting, concept and attitude.
“And I rarely saw rock and metal labels encouraging this deeper approach, until I discovered Season Of Mist. This is the label that I can describe with one word: ‘eclectic.’ And this is the label that not only approves the idea of artistic freedom, but openly indulges in it! So we’re extremely happy that these exact people are going to help us share our creative vision with the whole world from now on.”
Formed by Igor Sydorenko in Kyiv in 2009, STONED JESUS quickly progressed beyond their tongue-in-cheek moniker. The Ukrainian trio’s second full length “Seven Thunders Road” converged doom, prog and grunge in their own recognizable way and the album’s centrepiece, 13-min long “I’m the Mountain”, boasts 15 million plays on YouTube.
STONED JESUS’s next LP “The Harvest” sounded like a blend of MASTODON, PORCUPINE TREE and SOUNDGARDEN, and their charismatic live shows and relentless touring schedule helped to double and then triple their fanbase in mere months.
While being integral to the European psychedelic rock scene STONED JESUS helped popularize, creatively STONED JESUS never stopped pushing the envelope, taking influences for their newer material from such diverse acts like SWANS, THE CURE, KING CRIMSON and DEFTONES.
Line-up: Lead-Vocals and Guitar: Igor Sydorenko Bass and backing vocals: Sergii Sliusar Drums and backing vocals: Dmytro Zinchenko
