Posted in Whathaveyou on January 31st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Esbjerg Fuzztival last week added Dead Meadow as their first night’s headliner. Today brings word of the final lineup addition: Ukrainian progressive heavy rockers Stoned Jesus.
There’s a full set video below of Stoned Jesus in their current incarnation playing a festival in Germany last year, or at least a show outside. I put it there for two reasons. One, there’s a point in the second half where the guy who’s up front filming goes for a beer, and he keeps filming — the essential documentarian. Two, I saw this band, this version of this band, in 2024 (review here). It was my first time seeing them, and it only underscored the impression given by their records, that they are a band who care deeply about their songs, who respect their audience, and who are able to create a sense of presence on stage while remaining humble in it. Good band, in other words. You get some sense of the dynamic in the clip, plus the sound is good. You can really hear him order that beer.
I don’t know the status of such a thing, but I’m expecting a new Stoned Jesus album before the end of the year. Does that mean one will happen? Nope. But I’ve got my hopes up and you know that even while they might go on a tour celebrating their XVth anniversary, they’re even more interested in moving forward as a band. If it’s 2026 before it happens, fine, but it’s still only January. They’re still with Season of Mist for the new one so far as I know.
And the bottom line is they’ll kill it at Esbjerg Fuzztival 2025. I believe this is the last of the announcements for the 2025 lineup, so keep an eye for day splits and, if you can go, have a great time:
ESBJERG FUZZTIVAL 2025 – Stoned Jesus
Here is our last announcement for Fuzztival 2025:
Stoned Jesus will be the perfect way to wrap up Fuzztival as our Saturday headliner!
We hardly have to say much about this band: Ukrainian progressive rock and doom combined, with a sabbath worshipping first album, that we still spin in plenty here, not to mention a second album that has become a legacy in the stoner/doom community with the epic chant I’m The Mountain. This band alone is worth both the ticket price and the trip, so don’t sleep on it: it’s pay-day after all!
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 21st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I’ve never been a huge fan of HIM‘s records and I’ve never seen the band live, but I do know that Igor Sydorenko of Stoned Jesus is the kind of dude who just might dare to like different kinds of music, let alone different kinds of rock music, so I guess that’s the risk you run for being actually-open-minded (instead of pretend-open-minded, which is what I think most people want to be). Fair enough. Catchy is catchy, songwriting is songwriting, and of course Sydorenko, who’s among the more charismatic of heavy rock frontmen currently working the Euro circuit, can handle the melody.
I don’t know when they recorded it, but the impression I get from the below is it’s the first studio outing from the revamped incarnation of the band, with Andrew Rodin on bass and backing vocals and Yurii Ciel drumming. I was lucky enough to see this incarnation of Stoned Jesus last summer in Budapest (review here) and Europeans will have the chance to catch the band this Spring as they celebrate their 15th — or XVth — anniversary with festivals and club dates ahead of taking off for their first Australian stint this Fall. I could’ve sworn they’d been before. I’ve never been either.
So the cover, the tours, the anniversary, and word of a new album sometime later in 2025 is the deal here. I hope it all pans out without complication. Stoned Jesus are all paid up on dealing with bullshit beyond their control and then some:
STONED JESUS Cover HIM’s “Buried Alive By Love”
Ukrainian psychedelic prog rockers honor kindred spirits with faithful ode to love metal
New album coming in 2025 + return to Hellfest
Having celebrated their 15th anniversary with two reissues last year, Stoned Jesus are turning over a new leaf in 2025. The Ukrainian psychedelic prog rockers are rolling across the European summer festival circuit in heavy anticipation of their upcoming sixth album and first with the band’s new lineup.
To kick off the new year in high gear, Stoned Jesus are honoring their fellow trailblazers HIM with a faithfully heart-pounding ode to love metal.
Listen to Stoned Jesus cover “Buried Alive By Love” on the Season of Mist YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/OHmEGyXHjmM
Though they were already a known force on the international album charts, before “Buried Alive By Love”, HIM were at odds with how they were perceived by the music industry. Igor Sydorenko – the mastermind behind Stoned Jesus – understands the feeling all too well.
“We constantly struggle with the limitations of the genre, having been pigeonholed as a stoner rock band early in our career, so HIM are very relatable to us”, Igor says. “It’s absolutely unfair that such a diverse and interesting band are remembered as this moody, one-dimensional bunch by the general public. I truly consider Ville Vallo one of the most underappreciated rock and metal composers ever. His way of balancing the heavy and dark stuff with the catchiest melodies is very inspiring when I’m busy with my own songwriting”.
With the opening track on 2003’s Love Metal, HIM truly hit upon their signature style. “Buried Alive By Love” shot the album to the top of the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. Now, more than two decades later, the hit single is launching a new era for Stoned Jesus. The band’s new rhythm section add fresh sludge, while Igor’s razor-sharp riff and coolly impassioned pleas match the Finn’s gothic groove drop for bloody drop.
“This is just a phenomenal song”, Igor continues. “Bumping HIM in the van with the new boys on our first tour together sure helped to build and solidify the chemistry that we have now”.
Catch this new era of Stoned Jesus as they relive the band’s greatest hits on their ongoing 15-year anniversary tour. The band are playing shows across Europe with stops at several festivals, including a triumphant return to Hellfest. Later this year, Stoned Jesus are making their long-awaited debut down under with five special anniversary shows in Australia.
Stoned Jesus 2025 XV Anniversary European Tour March 30 – Lediden, NL @ Interstellar Solar Fest May 2-3 – Bologna & Venezia, IT @ Heavy Psych Sounds May 16 – London, UK @ Desert Fest May 17 – Dublin, IE @ Lost Lane May 18 – Belfast, UK @ Voodoo May 21 – Malmö, SE @ Plan B May 22 – Stockholm, SE @ Bar Brooklyn May 24 – Helsinki, FI @ Sonic Rites Festival May 25 – Tallinn, EE @ Kinomaja May 26 – Riga, LV @ Melna Piektdiena May 27 – Vilnius, LT @ Loftas May 28 – Gdansk, PL @ Drizzly Grizzly May 29 – Wroclaw, PL @ Transformator May 30 – Prague, CZ @ Rock Cafe May 31 – Ljubljana, SI @ Menza Pri Koritu June 1 – Zagreb, HR @ Vintage Industrial Bar June 21 – Clisson, FR @ Hellfest June 27 – Oberzenn, DE @ Wasted Openair June 28 – Passau, DE @ Blackdoor Music Fest August 3 – Gyongyos, HU @ Fekete Zaj Festival
Stoned Jesus 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
Line-up: Igor Sydorenko – Lead-Vocals & Guitar Andrew Rodin – Bass & Backing Vocals Yurii Ciel – Drums & Percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 25th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
A strong first impression from Desertfest London 2025 is no big surprise. The UK’s premier heavy festival will feature Elder, as previously noted, as well as Zeal & Ardor, Amenra, Stoned Jesus, The Devil and the Almighty Blues, Planet of Zeus, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Josiah, and others. Note 10,000 Years supporting their new record and first for Ripple. Note Volcanova because they’re a new-ish band on the way up. Note Bobbie Dazzle as Sian Greenaway moves forward from her time with Alunah. Note Sons of Alpha Centauri because they don’t tour a ton. Note Black Willows because they rule, on and on. There’s a lot to be unpacked here even before you get to Barbarian Hermit, Erronaut or Scott Hepple and the Sun Band, but the bottom line is the news is good.
Some of these acts will be shared with Desertfest Berlin and Desertfest Oslo, and I haven’t seen a lineup announcement for either of those yet, but it seems fair to think of it as imminent. In the meantime, Desertfest London 2025 has tickets on sale, should you either want to purchase one or spend the rest of your week until payday fantasizing about doing so and then make the buy. I haven’t been there since 2013 — would go, happily — and still feel comfortable heartily recommending the experience as life-changing for the better.
From the PR wire:
DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF BANDS FOR 2025 INCLUDING ZEAL & ARDOR, ELDER, AMENRA AND MORE
Desertfest London have announced the first wave of bands for their 13th edition, which will take place across multiple venues in Camden on Friday 16th – Sunday 28th May 2025. Weekend tickets are available HERE: www.desertfest.co.uk
Swiss avant-garde metallers Zeal & Ardor are confirmed to headline the Roundhouse on Saturday night. Led by Manuel Gagneux, the group will undoubtedly deliver a masterclass in genre-pushing riffery following the release of their highly acclaimed fourth album Grief in August.
Desertfest favourites and psych-rock masters Elder will be headlining Friday night with a special performance celebrating 10 years of their album Lore, which was the band’s third full-length release and a watershed moment in their history cementing the hallmark Elder sound.
Frontman and lead guitarist Nick DiSalvo adds, “Lore is turning 10 years old. This album marked a point of departure for Elder upon a path which the band is still walking now. For us, this is the record where the band came into its own as a unique voice in the heavy rock underground. As we approach our second decade as a band, we feel it’s appropriate to look back on this landmark for us and acknowledge it properly, which is why we’re doing a tour performing the entire album along with some other tracks from our earlier catalogue; we’ll give this era of the band a proper celebration before turning our attention once again toward the future and the next album, currently being written.”
After their crushing performance at Desertfest London in 2019, the boundary defying postmetal titans Amenra will be returning to deliver shared catharsis and indoctrinate more to the Church of Ra with their undeniably powerful and haunting atmospherics.
Currently celebrating their 15th anniversary, the Ukranian trio Stoned Jesus will be bringing their mix of doom, prog and grunge whilst The Devil & The Almighty Blues will be hardhitting heavy- slung blues rock.
With new music on the horizon and known for their thunderous live reputation, Planet Of Zeus will be stirring things up, as will Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol with their selfprofessed brand of Doom-Wop.
Also announced are Josiah, Sons Of Alpha Centauri, Volcanova, Black Willows, 10,000 Years, Scott Hepple & The Sun Band, Barbarian Hermit, Erronaut and Bobbie Dazzle.
Weekend Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk with more bands to still be announced!
FULL LINE-UP SO FAR ZEAL & ARDOR | AMENRA | ELDER |STONED JESUS | THE DEVIL & THE ALMIGHTY BLUES | PLANET OF ZEUS | RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL | JOSIAH | SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI | VOLCANOVA | SCOTT HEPPLE & THE SUN BAND | BLACK WILLOWS | 10,000 YEARS | BARBARIAN HERMIT | ERRONAUT | BOBBIE DAZZLE
Posted in Reviews on August 5th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
I knew when I saw the dude in the Trouble shirt that I was on the right bus. It wasn’t as hot today, some rain, but still humid enough to sweat on the way to Dürer Kert, which has tables enough outside for probably a couple hundred people, though there weren’t that many about a half-hour before the listed 7PM show time. A couple food trucks around. A bar playing music with a beat, including a lounge-techno version of “Imagine.” A small, now-empty, stage that would be perfect for a DJ. Dürer Kert (the ‘kert’ means ‘garden,’ I think as in beer garden) looked ready for a party. It got one.
I wouldn’t have fretted about arriving early — that’s a total lie; yes I would — but the prompt start the other night made me want to play it safe. That, despite two more bands on the bill as locals Red Swamp — whose metal-tinged soundcheck I heard walking up — and Shapat Terror were opening. On some levels, I guess that’s the difference between a Monday and a Friday night gig. I’m nervous either way. For everything. All the time. Won’t matter when the music starts.
This being my first time seeing Stoned Jesus made it something of an event in my mind. Nothing against Dopelord, just that I’ve watched them play before, though the advent of 2023’s Songs for Satan (review here) put them at another level in my mind. I’ll say I was looking forward to both and mean it for more than diplomacy’s sake, but I’ve enjoyed and written about both for over a decade, and this would be my first live experience with Stoned Jesus. I was nervous for that too, even with a fair amount of night to go before I got there.
Doors were at 7, so that’s when I went in. It was just me in the nagyterem (“big room”) for a while, but they were playing good music and it was cooler than outside and I’m a fucking misanthrope, so I sat on the floor and waited. Green Lung, Dozer, Kyuss, etc. Me and security. I didn’t know there was a photo pit or I’d have tried to get a pass. I messaged Igor from Stoned Jesus, whom I was looking forward to meeting, working under the kind-of-a-bummer assumption that dude had better things to do a couple hours before showtime than get me sorted. So it goes, in my mind. In real life, he came through in like five minutes, I met the promoter and got to take pictures no problem without having to stand in one spot all night and feel like a jerk. That turnaround, that kindness (thank you, Zsanett), kind of made my night.
But there was a show. Here’s how it went:
Red Swamp
Pretty discouraging to have studied the magyarul language for over a year now and barely be able to pick up a word of Red Swamp’s between-song banter apart from “thanks very much” (köszönöm szépen) and other syllables here and there. Long way to go if I actually want to speak it, I guess. Their lyrics were in English to follow suit from their moniker and their style of riff metal more broadly, in which influences from the likes of Lamb of God and Pantera could be heard in addition to the odd metalcore breakdown, vocals capably shifting between cleans and harsher screams/growls. Their opener, “Stoned,” made a hook of a line that was something approximate to “Cuz I’m already stoned,” and that was a bit of charm, and when they hit a slowdown, the Crowbarian nod was there for sure, but their baseline level of aggression would’ve been a surprise if I hadn’t cheated and checked out their newest single “Born to Bleed” this afternoon. They took a photo together on stage when they were done — the last song had the biggest (“a legnagyobb,” which I learned this week) groove of the bunch — and left to the start of “Sweet Leaf” over the P.A. Maybe not my kind of metal all the way, but they were good at what they were doing, having fun and nobody got hurt, so I’m not complaining. The room almost completely cleared when they were done as people went to sit outside with their drinks. I looked up from writing on my phone and there were like six dudes left. Suppose that’s how it’s done at Dürer Kert. I dig it.
Shapat Terror
While both their name and the animated logo on the screen behind them gave a nastier superficial impression, Shapat Terror won me over quickly with their not-emo-but-post-hardcore-rooted melody and noise-rock-but-grown-up sway. Big Soundgarden influence in the vocals, and that’s not a comparison I’m wont to break out unless it’s a compliment. I’d checked them out for a cursory listen before the show too, and I liked that enough to pick up the tape they had at the merch table, but the way the punch of bass from the stage set alongside the major-key reach and the summery groove, well, I wish I’d heard of them before this gig but they’re a band I’m glad to have seen. Nothing too fancy arrangement-wise, but no chestbeating either, and no pretense in a down-to-earth stage presence despite sounding as a group like they probably listen to seven different kinds of punk I’ve never heard of, including whichever kind has chug. Everybody who had gone outside and then some came back in, and by the time they were wrapping up, I legitimately wished they would do a longer set. A couple backing screams near the end were a surprise but not out of place. Good band. Sometimes you luck out.
Dopelord
Their Satanic majesties rolled from start to finish, opening with “The Chosen One” from Songs for Satan, which, yes, has absolutely been playing nonstop in my brain since I found out this show was happening while I was in Hungary. That, “Addicted to Black Magick,” and everything else was a highlight as the Polish four-piece found a consuming level of volume and used it to proliferate a stoner idolatry with a lumber all their own. Great pairing, their being out with Stoned Jesus. Two bands who can break out a massive groove when they need to but have much more to offer than just that, however much the sense of worship — volume, riff, devil, whathaveyou — is central to the character of Dopelord’s music. They played in front of grainy horror footage and the plod was thick until they thrashed out “Headless Decapitator,” which felt like a long way removed from the stage-intro “It Is So Nice to Get Stoned,” but was a hell of a way to spend a couple minutes just the same. Singularly stoned and pummelingly heavy, it was a celebration for the converted, and watching Dopelord, it’s rarely such a raw pleasure to be among that number. They closed with “Reptile Sun” and “Doom Bastards.” Beers were raised. Hoots were hollared. Ar last one couple I saw was making out. Not so much for the latter, though, you know, whatever, but I was really, really glad to have left the apartment to witness Dopelord’s absolutely uncompromising vision of Sabbathian stoner doom, which has only become more their own over time.
Stoned Jesus
I met Igor Sydorenko, Andrew Rodin and Yurii Kononov during Dopelord’s set. The latter two, also brothers, are newcomers in the rhythm section of the band celebrating their 15th — or XVth, as they put it on the poster — anniversary with this tour and their upcoming Fall run. But if you want to know anything about Stoned Jesus, know this: Igor’s no dummy. He’s got a new lineup, but if they weren’t full-baked, or ready, or something was off, they wouldn’t be out on a tour like this at all. Instead, as the band has relocated to Germany as wartime expats following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and are pivoting from the originally intended follow-up to 2023’s Father Light (review here) — that album was slated to be part of a duology with Mother Dark, now shelved as understand it with the band moving forward in the current incarnation and new new material — while also doing catalog reissues through Season of Mist, the band were airtight through material new and old. “Thoughts and Prayers” from the new album was a highlight, and the set brought into focus for me just how much Stoned Jesus like a blues lick, sure, but how they’re able to shift between a mellow boogie and outright crush without making either feel out of place in the song. Igor is a better singer than I’ve ever seen him get credit for, and the band’s emphasis is exactly where they want it to be, where Igor wants it to be. They auctioned off an original vinyl of Seven Thunders Roar to go to their Ukraine fund. It went for 33,000 HUF, which is about US $90. Worth every penny all the more since they went into “I’m the Mountain” after. The classic. It wasn’t the last song they played, but an inevitable crescendo anyhow, and the crowd was right there for it with he band. The nod of “Get What You Deserve” followed, then “Buried Alive by Love” and “Here Come the Robots” for a lively finish.
—
Not gonna lie, by the time Stoned Jesus were done rocking out, I was all rocked out. Out-rocked, even. I leaned on the wall in the back, sore, tired and ready to be done with a day that was going on 19 hours ahead of another early start in the morning. I hobbled my plantar fasciitis self through the parking lot and out to the road to meet up with the taxi I called for in the Bolt app (the last bus back had been at 11:36), my phone at 23 percent battery and my body no less in need of a charge.
The taxi driver, Tamás, was a hero with chill techno and no conversation. I saw him glance in the back seat a couple times, presumably to make sure I was still alive. It had been another night I felt lucky to be so — and here I acknowledge The Patient Mrs., through whom all thigs are possible — and the subsequent crash-out was proportional to the joy of the experience. Thank you, Budapest. I’ll always remember that the first time I saw Stoned Jesus — and I very much hope not the last — it was here.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 17th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
As Stoned Jesus move forward with a new lineup and head toward their 15th anniversary tour of Europe this Fall, the Ukrainian heavy rock forerunners will this August revisit 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here) and 2015’s The Harvest (review here), reissuing the two albums through Season of Mist, which also put out their 2023 long-player, Father Light (review here). That record, in being both post-plague and arriving in the context of Russia’s ongoing attempt to eat Ukraine with murder, was almost defiantly rocking, but encompassed a lot in terms of sound that Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest put forth, nodding to the… uh… nod… of the former and the willfully progressive spirit that kept the latter from being more than a retread of riffy glories. Three extra minutes of “I’m the Mountain?” I think I’m not the only one who’s ready to sign up for such a thing.
Kind of kills me I’ve still never seen this band. With the trio revamped around founding guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko, that would be interesting to catch playing new songs or old. My understanding is — which is to say, don’t quote me on this — they’ve dropped the intention to follow Father Light with the hopefully-they’ll-put-it-out-someday Mother Dark, instead focusing on touring and presumably a fresh start for a next record whenever they get there.
The PR wire brings news of the reissues:
STONED JESUS Re-Issue Two Classic Albums in Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest
Strap in, magnificent souls, because we’re diving deep into the kaleidoscopic universe of STONED JESUS, trailblazers of the European psychedelic progressive rock scene. The ever-ambitious trio is re-issuing their groundbreaking albums, the monolithic Seven Thunders Roar (2012) and the revolutionary The Harvest (2015).
Forged in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2009 by singer-songwriter Igor Sydorenko, Stoned Jesus began as an audacious experiment. United by a shared passion for the almighty riff, seismic grooves, and boundless creativity, the band bulldozed their way through the barriers of the genre, crafting a legacy that has since become the stuff of modern mythology.
“After years of waiting we’re finally reissuing two of our most-beloved albums, the heavy prog stalwart The Harvest and the already-legendary psychedelic classic Seven Thunders Roar!” Sydorenko states. “It’s funny now to think how surprised people were hearing The Harvest for the first time – a lot of them possibly expected Seven Thunders Part Two, but as a songwriter I’d never been into repeating myself. And with Seven Thunders, what else could I say about this overlooked-then-and-praised-now record, its importance and influence for the genre?
“This was our first release with our then-manager, Vlad Lyashenko, the man who helped to shape the Ukrainian rock and metal underground into the force it is today. Both reissues are dedicated to his memory, since he passed away last year – hauntingly, on the very same day we’d released our fifth album, Father Light. So please enjoy both The Harvest and Seven Thunders Roar with extended bonus tracks and have one for the guy to whom we owe our career”
Season of Mist is reissuing Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest on August 16, 2024.
Seven Thunders Roar Digital Download CD Digipack 2X12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Black) 2X12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Gold with Black Splatter)
Tracklist 1. Bright Like The Morning (7:47) 2. Electric Mistress (9:21) 3. Indian (5:00) 4. I’m The Mountain (13:01) 5. Stormy Monday (8:43) 6. Bright Like The Morning (Extended) (8:43) 7. Stormy Monday (Extended) (9:32) 8. I’m The Mountain (Extended) (16:02) Total runtime: 1:18:09
The Harvest Digital Download CD Digipack 12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Black) 12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Red with Black Splatter)
Tracklist 1. Here Come The Robots (3:18) 2. Wound (3:14) 3. Rituals Of The Sun (7:01) 4. YFS (5:10) 5. Silkworm Confessions (9:07) 6. Black Church (14:45) Total runtime: 42:37
STONED JESUS will be heading out celebrating their 15 year anniversary across mainland Europe. Expect a setlist full of Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest classics, along with tracks from their latest album, Father Light.
Tagging alongside them will be San Francisco’s Mondo Drag, Polish doom-giants Dopelord as well as label mates The Abbey on 21 European dates.
STONED JESUS XV ANNIVERSARY TOUR: 10 October: Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club 11 October: Copenhagen, DK @ Lille Vega 12 October: Hamburg, DE @ Headcrash 13 October: Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat 14 October: Arnhem, NL @ Willemeen 16 October: Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club 17 October: Bristol, UK @ Fleece 18 October: London, UK @ Garage 19 October: Cologne, DE @ Club Volta 20 October: Antwerpen, BE @ Desertfest Belgium 22 October: Munich, DE @ Feierwerk 23 October: Milano, IT @ Legend 24 October: Bologna, IT @ Freakout 25 October: Aarau, CH @ Kiff 26 October: Schweinfurt, DE @ Stattbahnhof 27 October: Innsbruck, DE @ PMK 29 October: Brno, CZ @ Kabinet Muz 30 October: Warsaw, PL @ Hydrozagadka 31 October: Krakow, PL @ Kwadrat 1 November: Poznan, PL @ Klub 2progi 2 November: Leipzig, DE @ Werk 2
Line-up: Igor Sydorenko – Lead-Vocals & Guitar Andrew Rodin – Bass & Backing Vocals Yurii Ciel – Drums & Percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 3rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
One vividly recalls how it went when Stoned Jesus were set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their landmark second LP, Seven Thunders Roar (review here), in March 2022. Emerging from a global pandemic didn’t get any easier for the Kyiv-based band fronted by guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko as Russia went into active-war mode in invading their home country of Ukraine now over two years ago, but in early 2023, Stoned Jesus offered the engrossing Father Light (review here) as their first LP through Season of Mist, and they’ve continued to move forward with tours to support it, including heading out this very month with Mars Red Sky as they begin to mark 15 years of the band.
Their accompanying Fall 15th anniversary European run will see them touring with the rotating cast of prog-classicists Mondo Drag, blasphemous riff rollers Dopelord and progressive doom melancholymakers The Abbey for most of October (including a few dates early in the month in Bulgaria and Greece that have moved from this Spring; see below for more info), with a stop at Desertfest Belgium 2024 nestled between club shows throughout Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Poland, and so on. And if you look at the three openers who’ll swap out for each other during the tour, it’s indicative of how broad Stoned Jesus‘s sound has become that they all absolutely fit as complement.
The below comes from social media as posted by Sydorenko. It’s unclear as yet what the ‘big changes’ are that he’s referencing, but whatever the upheaval, nothing’s slowed Stoned Jesus down yet.
Doomstar Bookings is behind the tour:
STONED JESUS – XVth Anniversary Tour
Here it is – the final leg of our XVth Anniversary Tour for this year! So many places to play (familiar and new), so many bands to share the stage with (again, familiar and new) and so many people to share our music with – see you all there. This one will be really, really good! Love, StJ #StJxv
Doomstar Bookings presents: Stoned Jesus XV Anniversary Tour, with special guests: Mondo Drag (10/10 – 26/10) / Dopelord (29/10 – 02/11) / The Abbey (10/10 – 02/11)! Check out the dates below!
3.10 – Sofia (BG) – Mixtape 5 4.10 – Thessaloniki (GR) – Mylos Club 5.10 – Patra (GR) – Frida Live Stage 6.10 – Athens (GR) – Kyttaro Live 10/10 – Berlin (DE) – Frannz Club # * 11/10 – Copenhagen (DK) – Lille Vega # * 12/10 – Hamburg (DE) – Headcrash # * 13/10 – Haarlem (NL) – Patronaat # * 15/10 – Arnhem (NL) – Willemeen # * 16/10 – Leeds (UK) – Brudenell Social Club # * 17/10 – Bristol (UK) – Fleece # * 18/10 – London (UK) – Garage # * 19/10 – Cologne (DE) – Club Volta # * 20/10 – Antwerpen (BE) – Desertfest Belgium # * 22/10 – Munich (DE) – Feierwerk # * 23/10 – Milano (IT) – Legend # * 24/10 – Bologna (IT) – Freakout # * 25/10 – Aarau (CH) – KIFF # * 26/10 – Schweinfurt (DE) – Stattbahnhof # * 27/10 – Innsbruck (AT) – PMK * 29/10 – Brno (CZ) – Kabinet Muz x * 30/10 – Warsaw (PL) – Hydrozagadka x * 31/10 – Krakow (PL) – Kwadrat x * 01/11 – Poznan (PL) – 2Progi x * 02/11 – Leipzig (DE) – Werk 2 x * # w/ Mondo Drag x w/ Dopelord * w/ The Abbey
Dear fans in Bulgaria and Greece!
Some big changes are happening in the Stoned Jesus camp that we can’t wait to tell you about later – but for now this means we have no other option but to move the first four dates of our XVth Anniversary Tour from early April to early October (please note the new dates).
3.10 – Sofia (BG) – Mixtape 5 4.10 – Thessaloniki (GR) – Mylos Club 5.10 – Patra (GR) – Frida Live Stage 6.10 – Athens (GR) – Kyttaro Live
While we kindly ask everyone to respect our privacy while we’re dealing with these unforeseen challenges, we need to assure you that these are not the issues that made us cancel all our touring plans back in 2023.
Thanks a million for your patience, understanding and support! See you a bit later this year, StJ
ps: to everyone who’s expecting to see us in France, Spain, Germany and Portugal this April – no worries, the rest of the dates stay intact
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 18th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Set for the weekend of Oct. 18-20 and (I think?) celebrating the 10th anniversary of the first Desertfest Belgium, which was held in 2014, the 2024 edition of the Antwerp-based Desertfest has made its first lineup announcement, anchored by Fu Manchu and Russian Circles and featuring a host of others ranging in both geography and style. From the fluid textures of REZN and classic melodic prog rock of Mondo Drag to the reunited Scorpion Child, Bongzilla‘s singularly stoned crust and the expansive riffery of Stoned Jesus, whose Mother Dark complement to early-2023’s Father Light (review here) is awaited, it’s a well-rounded bill even before you account for heavy psych rockers Seedy Jeezus and bluesy ’70s traditionalists Child making the trip from Australia, the latter on the heels of Heavy Psych Sounds reissuing their catalog, the expansive sounds of Messa, and so on.
That it looks like a cool time isn’t really a surprise. Desertfest Belgium has developed a character of its own as the flagship Fall Desertfest in Europe, and while I’ve never been, I always look forward to seeing what it brings to the seasonal cohort of heavy festivals. Already we know REZN will be on tour with Russian Circles, as that was announced last week too, but it’s likely more tours will come from Mondo Drag, Ritual King and others below that haven’t been revealed yet if they’re even at this point finalized. In addition to the usual daydreaming-about-travel, I find thinking about these things and imagining tours and who might have new records out by the time October gets here to be a particular kind of nerdy joy.
The announcement, as per social media:
It’s that time of year again! It’s with great pride and excitement that we announce the first names for DF24! 👁️
Confirmed for Desertfest ANTWERP are: Fu Manchu Russian Circles Stoned Jesus Bongzilla Scorpion Child MESSA Wolvennest Mondo Drag Seedy Jeezus CHILD REZN Ritual King The Abbey Lethvm RRRags Crouch Kara Delik
Three days of delirium and heavy delight are surely awaiting us all in Antwerp!
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Who wants to fly my grumpy, middle-aged ass to Paris in April to catch a show? No one? Maybe Bordeaux? Porto? Lisbon? Madrid? Barcelona? I’ll go pretty much anywhere that has an airport for this one. Stoned Jesus have had a particularly fucked couple of years, as their home in Kyiv, Ukraine, has been subject to invasion from neighboring Russia and the ensuing proxy war between Ukrainian forces with NATO backing and the monolith that is Russian imperialism. I’ve been saying for the last two years I don’t know how that war’s gonna end, and could go on and on about it, but it’s war. It would be a welcome change if humans stopped slaughtering each other, and at no point in the history of the species from voles hiding in the ground when the asteroid offed the dinosaurs to right this fucking moment has that not been true.
That’s not to make light of modern warfare’s particular horrors or the struggle undertaken by Ukrainians on behalf of their home/the Western liberal democratic ideology, mind you. Stoned Jesus in early 2023 nonetheless issued one of the year’s best albums in their Season of Mist debut, Father Light (review here), and were set to tour Europe this past Spring when Ukraine imposed travel restrictions, undercutting the band’s ability to promote their work as intended. I guess that’s ended or some special dispensation has been made — White Ward also seem to be getting out, so it seems less likely to be wishful booking — because in April 2024, Stoned Jesus are set to head west to France, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
They’ll be keeping company with Bordeaux’s Mars Red Sky — speaking of 2023’s best albums, they had one too — and I don’t know anything about anything about the paperwork involved, but for the sake of all involved, including the heads who’ll actually get to see these shows unlike my daydream-jetsetter self, I hope they happen.
From the PR wire:
Stoned Jesus are celebrating 15 years of doomy, heavy-hitting progressive rock this April with fellow stoners Mars Red Sky.
16 April: Strasbourg FR @ La Laiterie 17 April: Karlsruhe DE @ Alte Hackerei 18 April: Paris FR @ Le Trabendo 19 April: Bordeaux FR @ Le Royal 20 April: Hondarribia ES @ Psylocibenea* 21 April: Porto PT @ Hard Club* 22 April: Lisbon PT @ Lisboa ao Vivo* 23 April: Madrid ES @ Nazca* 24 April: Barcelona ES @ Razzmatazz 3* 25 April: Touluse FR @ Le Rex* 26 April: Toulon FR @ Omega Live* 27 April: Lyon FR @ Le Transbordeur *w/ Mars Red Sky
Stoned Jesus are: Igor Sydorenko – guitar, lead vocals Dmytro Zinchenko – drums and percussion, backing vocals Sergii Sliusar – bass, backing vocals
