Stoned Jesus – Songs To Sun

Stoned Jesus’ upcoming release “Songs to Sun” is done in a style they do best with heavy riffs and singable melodies. I’ve been following them for a few years and was happy to review their upcoming album.

The album starts off slow with lots of atmosphere between the notes and builds momentum throughout the tracks. Sitting somewhere between rock and stoner rock the album sounds best when listened to loud through speakers rather than headphones.

First impressions- for the most part the album was in a style I was familiar with Stoned Jesus being in, the stoner rock/ rock realm, but I was caught off guard by how heavy it got at certain sections throughout the album. At one point in the song “Low” it gets so heavy that it nearly goes Ukrainian black metal for a few bars with blast beats, metal screams, and tremolo guitar work. Although uncharacteristic of Stoned Jesus I thought it worked really well, and I was impressed by how easily they transitioned from this section back into a groove again. This was my favourite part of the album, and I say part because I didn’t care for the other riffs in the song as much but this section really stood out to me in a big way.

The opening track “A New Dawn” shows the band’s strengths, which is why its my favourite tune of the album. It’s a great build up into what’s about to come in a heavy and groove fashion. The vocals were in that signature Stoned Jesus style – being both singable and memorable.

Another highlight for me was the guitar solo at the end of “Lost in the Rain”, the guitar tone suited the vibe of the track perfectly. Throughout the album the drums are very powerful and always played in a tasteful way.

I’m not sure what they were trying to portray with the last song “Quicksand” because it was kind of a build up that doesn’t go anywhere and feels like a personal confession about “becoming what I hate the most’. It left me hoping for a bit more out of a nearly 10 minute song, but it fell a little short in my opinion.

Although “Songs to Sun” expands on the band’s repertoire, while technically solid, much of the music didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. That’s why I’ll only be adding the songs I mentioned above to my stoner rock playlist.