Stoned Jesus expand their universe on new album ‘Songs to Sun’

Over the course of the past 16 years, Stoned Jesus have risen as true trailblazers. Whether it’s an radio-friendly banger or a 13-minute classic, frontman Igor Sydorenko has explored lush valleys of folk, proggy expanses, bouldering alternative rock and peaks of headbanging doom. Now, after a sneak peak at Hellfest, Sydorenko and his new bandmates are embarking on a three-part quest that will take their heavy progressive rock all the way to the sun, moon and back.

Songs to Sun comes out September 19, 2025 on Season of Mist. The album is the first in a trilogy that will span the different phases of Stoned Jesus. Season of Mist will release the darker Songs to Moon sometime next year, followed by the proggier Songs to Earth.

“We are thrilled to announce the beginning of this expansive journey”, Sydorenko says. “Songs to Sun picks up where Stoned Jesus left off on our previous album Father Light. Along the way, people will hear nods to Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest. But there are also lots of new twists and turns that merge metal’s groove and intensity with vintage prog and our catchiest choruses yet. Lyrically, there’s a constant sense of insecurity and instability, but experimenting with the music is what helps give our lives a solid foundation”.

Hear Stoned Jesus perform new songs off Songs to Sun when they return to Latin America this fall following their European summer tour with Cult of Luna and Australian debut.

Get tickets: https://linktr.ee/stonedjesusband

2025 European Festivals:
August 3 – Gyongyos, HU @ Fekete Zaj Festival
September 13 – Crest, FR @ Bridge To Hell
September 20 – Bilbao, ES @ Kristonfest
November 8 – Bochum, DE @ Tombstoned Fest
November 14 – Magny-Les-Hameaux, FR @ Foud Rock
November 15 – Eindhoven, NL @ Helldorado

2025 European Dates with Cult of Luna:
August 11 – Osnabruck, DE @ Botschaft
August 12 – Bremen, DE @ Modernes
August 13 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivolivredenburg

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
October 5 – Adelaide @ The Crown & Anchor

2025 Latin American Tour:
October 21 – Rio De Janeiro, Brazil @ Rock Experience
October 22 – Porto Alegre, Brazil @ Gravador
October 23 – Florianopolis, Brazil @ Desgosto
October 24 – Curitiba, Brazil @ Beveldere
October 25 – Sao Paulo, Brazil @ Jai Club
October 26 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil @ Caverna
October 28 – Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Uniclub
October 29 – Santiago, Chile @ Club Ambar
October 31 – Mexico City @ Sangriento [FIRST-EVER SHOW IN MEXICO]

Since 2009, STONED JESUS has served as one of Europe’s leading forces in heavy rock. Igor Sydorenko, a veteran of the Ukrainian underground music scene, started it as a solo project after stumbling upon some heavy and angry riffs that would become the song “Occult.” He fed off his Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin influences and was soon turned onto Electric Wizard and Sleep, two bands who mastered the art of bold, lurching heaviness, thus creating a sonic template to abide by.

The Kyiv-based project was initially dubbed “Stoned Jesus from the Outer Space” but shortened to the much crisper Stoned Jesus. The name was trimmed down out of necessity — Sydorenko wanted to legitimize the band immediately. “I realized that this may cause some problems,” he told Psychedelic Baby in 2010. “Some people wouldn’t take our music seriously, then. I don’t mind jokes and having fun, but music is always the most serious thing for me.”

Two demos ensued before Stoned Jesus’s debut LP, 2010’s First Communion. Recorded with the first line-up in two hours, First Communion was a promising offering that dove headlong into the world of heavy stoner rock, with three songs going over the 10-minute mark for hypnotic effect. The album eventually saw a proper reissue in 2020, introducing it to a new group of fans. The first change of rhythm section brought Seven Thunders Roar in 2012, which included “I’m the Mountain,” a 13-minute epic that has since become a live staple. The album also introduced a bevy of acoustic guitar and softer vocal approaches from Sydorenko.

The Harvest came next in 2015 with a new drummer, deftly transitioning Stoned Jesus into the new terrain, with more alternative and progressive rock leanings. This is a credit to Sydorenko’s evolving songwriting style and desire to never allow Stoned Jesus to repeat itself. “It works brilliantly for the likes of Motörhead or AC/DC, but we’re not that legendary yet,” he told Outlaws of the Sun in 2015. “So, let’s experiment, shall we? Let’s play with the genres, the sound, the song structures, the melodies, the time signatures — yes, my favorite trick!”

With another change of the drummer, the fourth LP, Pilgrims, arrived in 2018. A bold and experimental record, it showed the growing maturity of both musical and lyrical sides of Igor’s ever-progressing songwriting. After a year-long The Pilgrimage Tour and yet another year on the road celebrating the band’s 10th anniversary with the greatest hits setlist, Stoned Jesus’ original plans were to record its follow-up in 2020. That, of course, was sidelined by the pandemic. The band then entered Spivaki Records in Kharkiv in July 2021 to record nine songs at 75 minutes. Two-thirds of the material was mixed and mastered before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, leaving the final run-time of six songs at 43 minutes. 

The result was Father Light, the band’s first for Season of Mist, which caught Stoned Jesus in full bloom. The foundational elements of Stoned Jesus’s sound remained (fuzzed-out rock, driving bass lines and maximum groove), once again augmented by the combination of Sydorenko’s gentle clean vocals and hook-laden chorus choices, along with an array of ornamental guitar melodies. And, in true Stoned Jesus fashion, the journey is often the reward. The cuts on Father Light expand and shift — all the while, the band’s trademark heaviness serves as the guide.

Mother Dark, the gloomier introspective twin of Father Light, while partially recorded was shelved due to Igor’s dissatisfaction with the working dynamics of the latest Stoned Jesus line-up. Dissolving said line-up was a difficult decision to make, but Igor’s relocation to Europe brought a surprising reunion with his old friend Yurii, a talented drummer Igor had known even before writing the first Stoned Jesus song. Adding bassist-vocalist Andrew Rodin to this new line-up solidified its reliability, and now, after the whole year of relentless 25th Anniversary Tour schedule, the reinvigorated Stoned Jesus is more than ready for their next chapter.

Songs to Sun is the first album in a forthcoming trilogy that once complete, will stand as the pinnacle of what’s been a decades-long trip for Stoned Jesus. While picking up where Father Light left off, Sydorenko and his new mates still nod to Seven Thunders Roar and The Harvest along the way. But by merging metal’s fiery intensity with mind-melting grooves, vintage prog and their catchiest choruses yet, they bring the many distinct phases of Stoned Jesus to a bright, burning head.

Lineup:
Igor Sydorenko – Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Andrew Rodin – Bass, Backing Vocals
Yurii Ciel – Drums, Backing Vocals