Songs to Moon, the seventh album from Kyiv's STONED JESUS, is now streaming in full, a day before its release on Friday, October 16, via Season of Mist. The Needle Drop premiered the stream, and the band's official album stream is up on YouTube.
The record is the second part of the Songs trilogy that began with last year's Songs to Sun, and it is the darker, quieter sibling. Igor Sydorenko compares its trajectory to Led Zeppelin III, OPETH's Damnation and ALICE IN CHAINS' Jar of Flies: still recognizably STONED JESUS, he says, but bolder, more haunting and more introspective than anything the band has done before.
The seven songs run from the post-metal weight of opener "Under the Skin" through the doomgaze single "Velvet" and the mini prog-opera "Jackal" to "Syzygy", the band's first-ever instrumental, which sits at the exact midpoint of the whole trilogy and weaves in one melody from each Songs to… album. The final stretch strips down to acoustic guitar and Igor's hushed voice on "Window in My Room" and closer "One More Empty Day".
We gave Songs to Moon an 8/10 in our review, and Season of Mist quotes it in today's release announcement. Igor also walked us through the album, and the plans for the closing chapter Songs to Earth, in our interview.
The album arrives on CD digipak and four vinyl variants: black, turquoise, blood moon marbled, and natural transparent with green and purple marble. STONED JESUS take the new songs to the stage at WeStill Fest in Vallet, France, on October 30.
'Songs to Moon' tracklist:
- Under the Skin
- Velvet
- ZYX
- Syzygy
- Jackal
- Window in My Room
- One More Empty Day
Order & Stream "Songs to Moon": Order · The Needle Drop
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