STONED JESUS
STONED JESUS - “Father Light”
By Iron Sheik
Having not only to deal with the worldwide pandemic of 2020 and beyond, Ukraine's STONED JESUS was sidelined by the Russian invasion of their homeland in 2022. An invasion still raging as I write. An invasion that did not stop STONED JESUS. Once there was an opening to record and proceed with touring they dropped “Father Light” on the world. No small feat. An album overflowing with melancholy, heaviness, and longing I am sure in part due to the war at home.
Opener “Father Of Light” is an acoustic infused track. It had an ending like a PINK FLOYD segue, keyboards and fading in and out and from left to right. “Seasons Of The Witch” shows STONED JESUS' heavy BLACK SABBATH inspired riffage as well as an acoustic interlude making me think of “Symptom Of The Universe” upon first listen. As it was a heavy song the band did not end the song that way. It went back to a heavy ending. Further in and STONED JESUS display a psychedelic tendency to great effect juxtaposed with the heavy grooves. One can hear throughout a definite BLACK SABBATH vibe as well as other influences like LED ZEPPELIN. Some of the instrumental sections bring to mind ROBIN TROWER. Not bad company to be in or mentioned along side of.
“Seasons Of The Witch”, at just over eleven minutes in length, is one of my favorites on the album. It takes you on an aural journey of the heaviness that is STONED JESUS. It also departs to a mellow acoustic section that is also just as heavy in it's approach. Next up is “Thoughts And Prayers” which I really like for it's hypnotic groove about all the powerlessness in suffering, surely influenced by the war in Ukraine. “Porcelain” and “Con” follow up with a similar vibe of hypnotic grooves and heavy with acoustic passages.
Ending on a fuzzed out solo of sorts, “Get What You Deserve” was a great ending to a great album. It was fourty-three minutes of progressive doom psychedelic metal that went by too fast. This album is that good that you get so absorbed by the music it is over before you know it. It's a new must have possible top ten release of the year for me. Repeated listens keep me rapt and jamming to the grooves, hypnotic, bluesy solos, and a well mixed acoustic/heavy guitar sound at times.