Stoned Jesus :" Father Light"

 

This band from Ukraine falls along the more bong laden styles of hard rock. The first song which is an acoustic ditty, is more of a set up from the jammed stoner boogie to come. The first verse is somewhat apocalyptic in tone, which given the fact the Ukraine has been under siege for the past year, I am surprised bands there are still making music at all. Last July was their first rehearsal since the invasion took place. Lyrically there is a great deal of current events influencing the tone of the songs, without preaching to you about them. Lines like "Nobody cares whos is right , who is wrong" makes you wonder about what they are really speculating here. I have a hard time believing they are in a bomb shelter thinking about witches'. 

"Thoughts and Prayers" is lyrically clever and addresses what is going on in their world in a tasteful manner. It also sheds light on , something one side of America's political divide does not like to focus on which is they are likely to scoff at thoughts and prayers when it comes to how politicians respond regarding mass shootings, which is no different than how they are addressing the situation in Ukraine, aside from the occasional photo op. They know they can not do anything or are afraid to do anything. Not one to address politics on this blog, but given where this band is from and how their lyrics address it this is hard not to do, and pretty necessary. 

There is more of a sinewy winding to the progressive slither of the riff to "Porcelain" .Dynamically it  heads them into a more Tool like direction. The vocals follow a similar syncopations that add more weight to this comparison. The drumming is not as balls to the wall as what Danny Carey does when it is time to step on the gas. "CON' is more upbeat and jammy . It is also brighter in mood and does not hook me in, though they are good at what they do so hard to find fault in their playing. The plaintive vocals are often rather dry feeling. The more ominous metal feeling to the last song works better for me, than the previous song. Not the most original sound, but the songs work well , I will give this album a 9 and see how it grows on me for the rest of the year.  Season of Mist drops it March 3rd.