ALBUM REVIEW: From The Outer Space – Stoned Jesus
STONED JESUS have been building a great name for themselves in the stoner and doom scene since 2009 and for all the fans they amassed they have decided to release a special celebration of their 10th anniversary. A compilation of the remastered earliest five recorded demos including the first ever written track in all it’s rough as hell glory.
Clearly when listening to these recordings it’s important to be aware that this is the messy birth of the stoned baby Jesus, the recordings are raw and far from the polished and professional material they release now so this is definitely one for their greatest admirers.
When the first few fuzzy notes play it’s somewhat endearing to hear the naivety in the slightly off drumming in first track Sweet Whore Of Babylon which doesn’t quite match the fuzzy guitar but sounds like a pretty sick jam from the inner workings of founder Igor Sydorenko’s mind. An instrumental composition of just under six minutes long played low and slow. The bass has a cool groove that carries it along and the guitar riffs peppered with catchy hooks while the drums despite being slightly off beat are powerful enough to keep the track going.
With low drawn out vocals somewhere between a growl and yell much in a CONAN like fashion, Insatiable Kings has a filthy sludgy down-tuned and low and slow sluggishness which plods along. Of course, where its meant to be sludge the album is downright murky in production but hey, raw roots and all that. The filth is unforgiving and enjoyable to be immersed in with a few light hooks to lighten things up. Eastern Magic is also tuned down to the ground, but the Eastern sound weaving in and out through in piercing licks is pretty cool and well contrasted against the fuzzy bass lines. Like a long jam session, the track continues in the same way veering off into psychedelia at points and with the raw vocals of Igor adding yet more grit.
Occult which was first released in 2010 on The First Communion is the longest track long at nearly twelve minutes and also starts with creepy feedback showing a bit more of an experimental inclination lacking the ceremonial dialogue of the later recording. The chords are slow like a funeral march and the vocals take a slightly different turn, sounding not dissimilar to the roughness of Scott Kelly or NEUROSIS although towards the end of the track they take on an Ozzy Osborne sound and the riffs are very BLACK SABBATH to boot.
One could be forgiven for thinking that Black Woods is a BLACK SABBATH cover, the vocals are almost uncannily like Ozzy Osborne and like the preceding track the bass, guitar and drums are heavily influenced by the doom legends, in tone, chord progression and rhythm.
Across From The Outer Space there are few extra nuances and differences throughout these initial remastered recordings which will be something for the fans to enjoy. Unsurprisingly there is a thick coating of mud over the whole production but with most early projects it has a certain sense of endearment. If you are a STONED JESUS fan, be sure to get stuck in to this extra little treat!
Rating: 6/10
From The Outer Space is out now via Napalm Records.
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