Stoned Jesus (UA) + Mondo Drag (USA) + The Abbey (FI)

STONED JESUS

Formed by Igor Sydorenko in Kyiv in 2009, Stoned Jesus quickly progressed beyond their tongue-in-cheek moniker. The Ukrainian trio’s second full length Seven Thunders Roar converged doom, prog and grunge in their own recognizable way and the album’s centrepiece, 13-min long “I’m the Mountain”, currently boasts 15 million plays on YouTube alone.

Stoned Jesus’ next LP “The Harvest” sounded like a mix of MASTODON, PORCUPINE TREE and SOUNDGARDEN, and their charismatic live presence paired with a relentless touring schedule helped them to double and then triple their fanbase in mere months.

With more than 500 live shows played during their history, the band not only toured Europe and South America but also shared festival stages with acts like THE PRODIGY, GHOST, UNKLE, LIAM GALLAGHER, SLAYER, KORN, RAMMSTEIN, GOJIRA, BRING ME THE HORIZON, DREAM THEATER and even the almighty BLACK SABBATH! The trio was chosen as the direct support by the legendary veterans DEEP PURPLE for their 2018 Kyiv concert, which was attended by a 10000-strong audience of rock and metal fans.

While being integral to the European psychedelic rock scene Stoned Jesus helped popularize, creatively the trio never stopped pushing the envelope, taking influences for their newer material from such diverse artists like SWANS, THE CURE, KING CRIMSON and DEFTONES.

MONDO DRAG

Mondo Drag will knock your socks off, let your hair down and take you on a mind's eye exploration you won't soon forget. Though they exude love for the spiraling tapestry of heavy psychedelia of the past, they are on a rock and roll mission all their own: an unearthed prog band, futuristic in their time capsule, rocketing forward through the depths, gathering the sounds of space itself.

Influenced by Space Rock in early 1970s like Pink Floyd, touched off by many hints of Grunge / Stoner Rock around 1990, and massively developed through playing with lots of elderly renowned rock projects around them.

THE ABBEY

Aleister Crowley’s Abbey of Thelema was located in Sicily, Italy, and functioned as ground zero for many of the occultist’s most complex and groundbreaking hedonistic pursuits. Here, Crowley codified his ritual practices and took his concept of “Magick” to new, unforeseen levels. He rebranded the temple as “Collegium ad Spiritum Sanctum,” translating to “A college towards the Holy Spirit.” But the Abbey of Thelema was not without its controversy: A young disciple died in 1922 after contracting typhoid fever from the drinking water. And a year later, Crowley was evicted by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s regime, yet the mystery and intrigue behind the Abbey of Thelema remain.

It was only appropriate, then, that Jesse Heikkinen, a veteran of the Finnish music scene and a solo artist under the Iterum Nata banner, branded his newest musical pursuit as The Abbey. Drawing lyrical inspiration from esoteric organizations, their beliefs and his own practices, Heikkinen and co-lead vocalist Natalie Koskinen (Shape of Despair) weaved ritualistic tales from the darkest corners of themselves to pair with music that is a provocative, alluring kaleidoscope of dark, heavy rock.