Doomed Confessionary: Jon Harrison (Afghan Haze)

Photo credit: Jaime Campbell

Afghan Haze is an American stoner/sludge/doom metal band based in Connecticut. The group formed in 2018 and is currently composed of Jon Mlyniec on vocals, Jon Harrison on guitar, Johnny Blacklung on bass and Paul Litewka on drums. All of the members are veterans of the Connecticut and New England hardcore/metal scene. If you’re familiar with it, then odds are you’ve crossed paths with them in past projects.

In their current form as Afghan Haze, they draw upon their years of influence and experience to craft a sound that pays tribute to their roots while simultaneously plows forward into new territory, culminating into a true, aggressive and original concept. To quote them directly, they’re “Fueled by booze, bud, Satan and good times!”. They are not shy to admit their admiration for all and genuinely carry over this mantra into their live shows. Their style can be considered doom/stoner rock, but isn’t afraid to dive deeper and darker at times before veering off into a psychedelic hypnotic drone.

Afghan Haze have just their third full-length album »Sermons Of Filth And Disgust« on August 6th, 2025 in digital format with physical copies arriving mid-October.

Can you please say a few words about your band?
First off thank you for asking us to do this interview!!!
Well, we are a four piece heavy, sludge, stoner band from Connecticut USA. We take all elements from all the styles of music we listen to really. So there’s elements of doom, stoner rock, hardcore, sludge & punk. We don’t necessarily try to just do one style and just stick with that. We just play what feels right to us at the time and it has to have a good groove. It’s all about a good groove.

What was the biggest challenge for the band?
To be honest we’ve definitely had challenges in this band over the past few years. We lost our original drummer and co-founder of the band, Randall Colbourne, back in 2022. That was a very hard blow for us!! Then after we finished recording this album last year our bassist and original member Erik Barrett passed away. We are all still very shook up by that also. So to say we’ve had challenges would be an understatement to say the least. But, we know our brothers, friends & bandmates would want us to keep going. So we keep pushing forward. Playing music is what we do and we love it. So we keep going. With our brothers with us we keep going forward. After Randall passed we had our friend Paul join on drums and he’s doing and has done a great job. Also now we have on bass another friend of our Johnny Blacklung. It’s always great to play with your friends cuz you just give and gel better. It feels more natural when you play with people you’ve known for a while.

What can you be most proud of so far?
Well for me & I’m sure I can speak for another original member our singer Jon Mlyniec. We are just proud to have been able to make some killer music with our friends & continue to keep making heavy music. They may be gone but they are with us and their music will live on. So I’m most proud of the tight bond we’ve built within this band with each other and that we are able to continue even through out tough time. I’m happy for all the friendships we’ve have built by being in this band and going out there and just meeting new people and bands and just building friendships and relationships with these people. There’s a lot of great, cool people in our scene.

What was your biggest regret?
Well I don’t think we have any real regrets. Maybe if anything I would say having to turn down certain shows & maybe not really “touring”. But there’s always a good reason why we can’t do it but I would say that’s the only regrets.

What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
We’ve been lucky to play with a lot of killer bands over the years. One of the best shows we played was with Crowbar & Primitive Man. Also playing with Goatwhore was sick!! Our first show back was with Exhorder and that felt great to be back on stage with such a great band and see all the fans giving us so much love. Those were the best shows we’ve played all for different reasons.

What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Well I don’t know if this is a surprise but it’s definitely awesome to see. There’s a lot of cool up and coming bands popping up in CT. Which is always good to see the scene grow. Also these young kids putting shows together. Like the kids at willicrew booking. They’re doing good stuff. Like DIY deal.

What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
If we are talking just heavy music then for me I’ve been listening to No Cure a lot lately. I saw them recently with another favorite band of mine Edict and it was such a killer show. So, No Cure & Edict have been in the mix a lot lately as far as for heavy music. I do always go back my favorites Integrity & Bolt Thrower. Also been on a grind/crust kick lately. So been listening to His Hero Is Gone, From Ashes Rise, World Burns To Death. Oh also the new This Gift Is A Curse is really sick & the new Conan is killer. As far music in general I’ve been listening to Idles & Viagra Boys & the Jazz is Dead series when just chilling. With some hip hop definitely thrown in there haha.

What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Just do what you feel. Play what feels right you know. No need to really follow anyone or feel pigeon holed. Have fun with it and don’t make it a job. Just get together with your friends and jam and create some killer music. That’s more advice I’m giving to people. Just have with it and don’t be to serious about shit. Also have time to thank your fans and people that take time to listen to your music or come out to your show.

What are your guilty pleasures?
Well me and our singer are fans of a nice whiskey that’s for sure. Some good weed is always a plus also haha. Also I’m definitely a food snob & I love cooking. Cooking is therapeutic to me and rewarding. Smoking meat is also something I truly enjoy. Again very relaxing on a nice sunny day with a glass of whiskey, some good background music and a good book.

Can you say something more about the current music scene in your city/state/province?
Well like I was saying before there’s a lot of killer new bands popping up and some new venues to play at. Also like I previously said the new generation of kids putting DIY shows on is a great thing to see. Love to see the youth still immersed in this scene of hard and heavy music. So shout out to willicrew booking, sos booking, underground experience to name a few of the youth for putting on shows. Shout out to new bands in our scene like Dirt Pile, What Weapons Bring War, Warblood, Mercy Whip, The Sons Of Montana, Zar Nük.

Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Right now we are taking a minute to just jam and reconnect and write some new stuff. We do have a show at this killer venue The Cellar in Hamden on 10/4. It’s the Doom & Brews VI show with a stacked line up. Also a show on 10/24 at a favorite venue for us and many in the scene called Cherry Street in Wallingford CT. Put on by our brother Deadlock Productions. So far that’s it for now but there will be more shows to come. Especially now with the new record out.

What are your plans for the future as a band?
Just keep writing and jamming. Getting out there and playing as much as possible. Write another album and keep moving forward & playing shows with our friends and making new ones out there.

How can people best support your band?
Well best way to support us is buying our stuff at shows, coming out and checking us out when we are playing. Get our new album & merch on our Bandcamp: afghanhaze.bandcamp.com.

Just spread the word of Afghan Haze to as many people as possible.

Do you have any message for your listeners?
Hope everyone out there checks out our newest album »Sermons Of Filth And Disgust« available now for digital download and for pre-order on our Bandcamp.

Get out there and support your local music scene. Go see new band cuz you never know what awesome new bands are out there. If you’re in a band just have fun with stuff and enjoy what you do. Just get out there and create. Whether it’s music, writing, art or whatever your passion is have fun doing it.

Also we would like to thank each and every person that has supported us over the years and has stuck with us. We truly appreciate everyone and everything everyone has done for us.

Thank you to all the people in our scene that put us on some killer bills, given us a chance and everyone that’s taken time to listen to us. We’ll see you out there.

Thank you very much Bojan and all at Doomed Nation for having us on here. We truly appreciate it!!!

Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well