Review STONED JESUS ‘Father Light’

Stoned Jesus started in 2009 when Igor, Sergii and Dmytro from Kiev, Ukraine, formed the band and debuted with ‘First Communion’. Three more albums followed before the Russian attack on Ukraine also completely changed the trio’s life.
Only in mid-July 2022 Stoned Jesus could start rehearsing again, which, due to the given circumstances, still seemed surreal and now a new album of the three Ukrainians is released with ‘Father Light’.

Six new songs offer fans a very accomplished mix of heavy rock, doom and progressive music. After the rather quiet and emotionally profound title track, which opens the album, follows with ‘Season of the Witch’ a first taste of the trio’s skills. In eleven minutes Stoned Jesus show all their trademarks. Complexity and heavy guitar riffs can be found here as well as intricate structures and frizzling solo parts.

Photo: Mateusz Kluba

The somewhat cranky ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ shows again that Stoned Jesus do not offer musical fast food. Slowly and with psychedelic colorfulness you roll through these six minutes before with ‘Porcelain’ a song starts that fans of the band already know from the previous live shows. Calm and with a lot of depth one is offered a hypnotically repeating basic motif. ‘Procelain’ is a dark song with an ominous atmosphere. At the same time the track exudes a fascinating vibe and as the song gains momentum in the second half, the class of the trio is once again evident.

While ‘CON’ is rocking properly, Stoned Jesus dive into the depths of the stoner rock again with ‘Get What You Deserve’.
‘Father Light’ is a special album just because of the present circumstances. Stoned Jesus have managed to produce an album in an extremely difficult time which showcases the importance of music as a personal refuge like no other. In this context the album title ‘Father Light’ also gets its very own meaning.