Photos: HOPSMOKERFEST @ Widowmaker Brewing (Braintree, MA) – 2026

April 18, 2026June 2, 2026 Matt Darcy 111 Views DJ Nothing Means Nothing, Doom, Earthlore, Gozu, Heavy Temple, High Command, Hopsmokerfest, Mother Iron Horse, Pallbearer, Rock, Sludge, Sunburster, Thrash, Waxed, Widowmaker Brewing, Worshipper

A stench of hops(?) is in the air. Thick smoke surrounds the brewery as even thicker guitar tones fill the taproom. Traditionally taking place around the April 20th weekend, the annual Hopsmokerfest returns for its fourth installment as a beer and music festival curated by Widowmaker Brewing in Braintree, Massachusetts. DJ Nothing Means Nothing would spin vinyl in between sets while The Dregs Liquid Lights Show provided tripped-out visual stimulation as the bands performed.

Friday night headliners PALLBEARER would perform their second album, Foundations of Burden (2014 – Profound Lore Records), in its entirety. Boston riff connoisseurs WORSHIPPER, along with the mythical EARTHLORE held the fort down as HEAVY TEMPLE and WAXED gave you the sativa vs indica treatment as they begin touring the country together.

Saturday is the faster-riff day with HIGH COMMAND returning for a third time as a Hopsmokerfest headliner, guarded by armoured knights of the North Horde. Fellow home-area favorites GOZU, who are releasing Gozu VI this May via Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records, dazzled the audience with new songs. Witch City renegades MOTHER IRON HORSE are also releasing a new full-length in May via Hellmouth Records, with their set including several songs off the forthcoming album. Philadelphia sludge-doomers SUNBURSTER would kick off the festivities for day two.

Photographs by @bananamasher.

Philadelphia’s SUNBURSTER, after a series of demos and extended plays, released their debut full-length album, No Semblance of Peaceful Existence (2025 – Knife Hits) last year. Full of despair and riddled with angst, the quintet mixes Northeast attitude with filthy grooves from the bayous of NOLA. Start low and go slow, take each track one at a time, and inhale gently. Listen to a few tracks and see how you feel before consuming more.

SUNBURSTER:
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Emerging from Massachusetts’ North Shore in 2017, EARTHLORE delivers a powerful blend of heavy psych and stoner rock, layered with rich psychedelic ambiance and cinematic scope. The band would release The Agenda Continues EP in early summer 2018, expanding on it with their debut full-length album, Age of the Monolith, released in 2019. The band is believed to be in the latter stages of album number two.

EARTHLORE:
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Nashville, Tennessee sludge’n’rollers WAXED are a full-throttle Hell ride of slick riffs, pounding drums, with catchy hooks and lyrics that are perfect to sing along to. They just released their sophomore album The Continental Way at the beginning of April, teaming with Philly’s Heavy Temple to tour the States in support. The new record follows the group’s 2022 debut album Give Up and a split with Soot in 2023.

WAXED:
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It’s been about five years since the last MOTHER IRON HORSE album, Under the Blood Moon (2021 – Ripple Music), but the wait is nearly over. The Salem, Massachusetts-based renegades are about to release album three this May independently through their own label, Hellmouth Records. The self-titled album sees the band growing their sound, still gnarly, still rockin’, still rollin’; however, with Mother Iron Horse, the album is darker, heavier, and more masterful than ever before.

MOTHER IRON HORSE:
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WORSHIPPER is like setting cruise control, while on an acid trip – a little dangerous, but keeping it chill. Hard-hitting melodies reminiscent of the 70s, catchy vocal harmonies, booming bass, and masterclass riffs. The Boston-based outfit released their third album, One Way Trip, back in 2024 through Magnetic Eye Records and have been playing shows around the Northeast and West Coast promoting the new record.

WORSHIPPER:
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Fuzzed out. Psychedelic. Heavy doom. HEAVY TEMPLE are no strangers to the all-mighty riff. The road dogs just began a two-week jaunt with Waxed around the East Coast and the Midwest. Forming in Philadelphia, PA. in 2012, the band has released a split with Wolf Blood, two extended plays, and two full-length albums – the most recent being Garden of Heathens (2024 -Magnetic Eye Records).

HEAVY TEMPLE:
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Home-area favorites GOZU, dazzled the audience with new songs, performing five of eight from the forthcoming record, including “Corinthian Leatherface,” “Killer Khan,” “They Did Know Karate,” “Midnight Express,” and “Banacek.” Gozu VI drops this May via Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records. If you’re fond of catchy hooks, soulful vocals, beefy bass, and invigorating drumming with a hint of Motown, GOZU is the way. Warning! These riffs are fast and hot.

GOZU:
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Literal combative heavy metal, HIGH COMMAND stormed the stage as armoured knights of the North Horde stood guard along the stage. This would make the third headlining appearance from the crossover thrashers. Hailing from Worcester, MA., HIGH COMMAND formed in 2016, releasing an eight-song demo, The Secartha Demos, followed by a two-song 7-inch. These would get the attention of Southern Lord Recordings, who would release 2019’s Beyond the Wall of Desolation and 2022’s Eclipse of the Dual Moons.

HIGH COMMAND:
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PALLBEARER would perform their second album, Foundations of Burden (2014 – Profound Lore Records), in its entirety. The band released a 2025 Redux, a remixed and remastered version, of their acclaimed album nearly a decade later. Foundations of Burden (2025 Redux) features new mixes by Mario Quintero (Spotlights), mastering by Adam Gonsalves, and new artwork featuring a painting by Benjamin Vierling. The band would request that only green colors be projected by the wizard of visuals, then fade into their rendition of the classic Type O Negative track “Love You to Death” as the last song of the night.

At the time of the album, the doom collective from Little Rock, AR., did not have a practice space or proper equipment to self-record a demo. To make matters worse, once the band was in the studio, they experienced corrupted files, causing repeated takes and a blow to morale. The album got away from the band. While still happy that the record was able to be mixed and released on time, they felt that the nuances and special touches had been sacrificed. The band would revisit the album ten years later, and work on the mixes from the ground up, creating a representation of those songs that have grown on them over the years, putting unfinished business behind them.

PALLBEARER:
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