Stonemule

By bastom | | No Comments | bands

Born in the West Flemish underground, Stonemule erupted onto the scene in 2014 with raw, unfiltered hardcore/punk energy. Founded by Tom Vandaele (Urge for Blood, GOD), Benjamin Himpens, Ruben Dewilde, and Dries Herreman, the band quickly gained a reputation for their intense live shows. A shift came in 2015 when bassist Dries departed, making way for Wannes Breyne and the introduction of dual vocals—setting the stage for something heavier.

By 2016, Stonemule hit pause, re-emerging in 2017 with a sludgier, doom-soaked sound. www.dumpmagazine.be summed it up: “Kyuss coated with sludge, sewing pitch-black riffs with precision and Mastodon-like vocal magic.”

Their 2018 debut EP, Dystopian State, recorded on a shoestring budget, made serious waves. Fusing hardcore, stoner metal, and doom, it earned critical acclaim—GBHBL hailed it as “EP of the year”, while Merchants of Air praised its “sheer energy and hardcore-infused stoner metal.”

In 2021, they dropped “Bitter”, a single featured on Polderriffs Volume II. Then, the world stood still. Lineup changes and a pandemic-induced hiatus kept things quiet for over two years.

Now, 2025 marks Stonemule’s return. Armed with new members Jon Huyghe and Tom Schelfaut, they’re recharged, heavier than ever, and ready to shake the foundations with new music and blistering live shows.

The beast has awakened.

• Dumpmagazine

www.dumpmagazine.be wrote the following:

“You can best describe these songs as kyuss coated with sludge, a much needed work attitude and a portion of guts put in front of us on stage. As stubborn mules that do what they want they sew pitchblack riffs with great precision. To paint a pitchblack still with the electric guitar, is a skill possessed by few guitarists. The alternating vocals of front vocalists Tom Vandaele and Benjamin Himpens even created some Mastodon magic.” (Translated from Dutch)

• Games, brains, and a headbanging life

https://gbhbl.com/ep-review-stonemule-dystopian-state-polderrecords/

“Dystopian State has pretty much confirmed itself as leading the pack for EP of the year.”

• Merchants of air

http://www.merchantsofair.com/albums/brieviews-39

“What Stonemule delivers is a massive blast of hardcore infused stoner metal, laced with grunge and doom and flirting with the extreme. “ – “The result is quite impressive, a blast of sheer energy.”

• Riff Relevant

https://www.riffrelevant.com/2018/02/25/stonemule-dystopian-state-reviewstream/

“The concrete-busting STONEMULE are a sound-imbued wrecking crew, of this there is no doubt that can withstand once you hear them. They deliver quite caustic craftsmanship in the song structures of “Dystopian State“, along with the morphing genres impacted within them.”