Stoned Jesus – Songs To Moon

 

 

Stoned Jesus – Songs To Moon
Season of Mist – 2026
Metal, Prog, Stoner
Rated: ****

The first album from the Stoned Jesus trilogy hit us back in August 2025. Songs To Sun, as it was called, was nothing short of incredible, with many of its songs quickly finding their way into our hearts and becoming instant favorites. And now, as October 2026 grows ever darker, Stoned Jesus return with their own kind of light: honest, heavy rock in the shape of the trilogy's second chapter, Songs To Moon.

The Ukrainian band Stoned Jesus started out as a heavy-handed, brutish stoner rock outfit. Over the years, however, progressive influences have increasingly found their way into the band's DNA. These days, main songwriter and bandleader Igor Sydorenko seems more intent than ever on exploring the finer nuances of composition, crafting increasingly graceful and sophisticated songs. The second instalment of the trilogy may open with the sheer brutality of Under The Skin, but it soon reveals a different side of the band. There is the sophisticated elegance and unmistakable eighties post-punk flavor of Velvet, as well as acoustic passages that venture into almost ballad-like territory, most notably on the emotionally charged One More Empty Day.

That latter song hits almost as hard as Quicksand, the closing track on last year's Songs To Sun. And perhaps it's just me, but despite all the hardship and turmoil captured on that record, Songs To Sun somehow felt a little more hopeful. Hopeful, perhaps, against all better judgement. Songs To Moon, on the other hand, seems to inhabit a more melancholic, even despondent place. As Sydorenko wails: “Everything I do, will never make a change.”

And yet, somewhere beneath that sense of resignation, there is still a glimmer of catharsis. There seems to be something strangely liberating in accepting that nothing ever changes. And from that very realization, something unexpected begins to emerge: a stubborn, almost defiant form of resistance. Not the kind that promises victory, but the kind that refuses to surrender. That, perhaps, is the feeling that lingers long after Songs To Moon has come to an end. Which leaves us wondering: what will drive the final chapter, Songs To Earth, when it arrives in 2027?

(Written by JK)

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Season of Mist

Number 8 on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2025

Stoned Jesus – Songs To Sun

Number 18 on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2018