It’s beautiful, innit? A perfect mesh of nostalgia for what was and laying claim to what may yet be. Emissions From the Monolith isn’t just returning to remind people it was there 20-plus years ago when the notion of a festival celebrating underground heavy from sludge to psych — that kind of genrefest — wasn’t entirely unheard of but was nowhere near as widespread or taken for granted as it is now. It’s looking ahead. You get Torche (!) and Rebreather, but you also get Howling Giant and High Desert Queen. Fistula and Winds of Neptune. That’s gonna be a wild few days.

I ran into Ben from The Brought Low this past weekend in Brooklyn, and nearly the first words out of his mouth were asking if I would be in Ohio this October. Four-day fest plus a day of travel on either side makes it less feasible, especially coming off In the Key of Doom, also in NYC, the weekend before. It would be a challenge and would require a lot of indulgence on my wife’s part. I’m not sure I can make that ask, actually. And I’m not sure I have a car that I would trust to make it to and from Ohio. I guess that’s a factor too.

But you never know what the next few months will bring, and the lineup is gorgeous either way, so here it is as posted by the fest on socials:

EMISSIONS FROM THE MONOLITH 10 — FINAL POSTER + FULL LINEUP REVEAL

After nearly two decades away, Emissions From The Monolith returns October 8–11, 2026 at Westside Bowl in Youngstown, Ohio.

Four days of underground heavy music presented on a single stage with full sets and absolutely no overlaps.

Built around immersion, discovery, flow, and community rather than festival sprawl, Emissions has always focused on the experience of being there from start to finish.

We’re intentionally choosing not to sell the room to maximum capacity. Comfort matters more.

Final poster artwork by Mercerrock (Brian Mercer Design)

Tickets + information:
www.emissionsfromthemonolith.com

FULL LINEUP
Axioma
BAT
Bongzilla
Cavity A.D.
Deadbird
Disengage
edhochuli
Fistula
Generation of Vipers
Great Falls
High Desert Queen
Horseburner
Howling Giant
Kowloon Walled City
Lake Lake
Lo-Pan
Minsk
O.I.L.
rebreather
Rwake
Shun
Solace
Stinking Lizaveta
Sunrot
Telekinetic Yeti
The Brought Low
THUNDERCHIEF
TODAY IS THE DAY
Torche
Voivod
Weedeater
Winds Of Neptune

October 8–11, 2026
Westside Bowl — Youngstown, Ohio

https://emissionsfromthemonolith.com/
https://www.instagram.com/emissionsfromthemonolith
https://www.facebook.com/emissionsfromthemonolith

Solace, “Spiral Will” official video

Rebreather, The Line, its Width and the War Drone (2021)

Rwake, The Return of Magik (2025)

Feast your eyes on the Brian Mercer poster below — oh golly, I hope they make t-shirts — and behold not only the art’s glory but also the know-your-shit gauntlet being thrown down by the initial lineup for Emissions From the Monolith 10, which will be the first edition of the festival in 19 years. And some of these bands are veterans of the event to be sure — Rebreather are the hometown staple, Solace, Stinking Lizaveta, Deadbird, The Brought Low, Disengage, Weedeater would’ve likely played, while Generation of Vipers and Telekinetic Yeti have come up in the interim. The message being delivered here lives up to what the returning festival said it would do in terms of blending the oldschool Emissions palette with newer incarnations of heavy.

I’m planning on going to this. I don’t know where I’m staying yet. I don’t know how I’m getting there — maybe a train? is that crazy? — but I knew damn well before this initial, more-to-come lineup was announced that I wanted to be there for Emissions 10. The bill thus far only makes me look forward to it more. No, it won’t be like it was at the Nyabinghi in 2006 when I got voted off the island (it was okay, I eventually got back on, but like a decade later) and the guys from SunnO))) were throwing hissyfits on the stage monitors. It’s been 19 years. But in addition to the reunion aspect of it, I can’t wait to see who else gets added, because Emissions From the Monolith‘s Greg Barratt has always had a very particular ear for sludge and heavy, and especially with the hints here in Telekinetic Yeti and Generation of Vipers, I’m curious to know who else makes the cut. Would Howling Giant be a fit? What about Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol?

Presumably it’ll be the New Year before the next announcement is made, but tickets are available if you want to come hang. We’ll sort out the details like travel and lodging later. Probably too late.

From social media:

Emissions From The Monolith 10

October 8–11, 2026
Westside Bowl — Youngstown, Ohio

Early Bird tickets
emissionsfromthemonolith.com

Deadbird
Disengage
Generation of Vipers
rebreather
Solace
Stinking Lizaveta
Sunrot
Telekinetic Yeti
The Brought Low
Weedeater

https://emissionsfromthemonolith.com/
https://www.instagram.com/emissionsfromthemonolith
https://www.facebook.com/emissionsfromthemonolith

Rebreather, The Line, its Width and the War Drone (2021)

Pretty bold move to even think about leaving your house in the Southeast in July, let alone get in a vehicle and do shows, but intrepid North Carolinian psych purveyors U.S. Christmas are taking on the task nonetheless. With Generation of Vipers in tow they’ll be facing the swelter head on, finding refuge in venues alongside the likes of Sons of Tonatiuh and Divine Circles.

Get your icepacks on:

USX To Tour Southeast US With Fellow Appalachian Act Generation of Vipers This Week

Appalachian masters of dark psychedelia, USX, will take to the road this week for a run of shows through the Southeastern US states alongside local brethren Generation Of Vipers. The five-city run begins on Wednesday, July 17th in Asheville followed by Athens, Atlanta, Savannah and Columbia through next weekend, the two acts to share the stage with Sons of Tonatiuh, Across Tundras and more throughout the trek.

Stated USX founder Nate Hall of the trek: “We are anticipating some good hot and sweaty shows with our good friends Generation of Vipers, Sons of Tonatiuh, and some cool new southern bands. We are hitting some of our favorite cities and it would be cool to see a ton of people come out. As always, we will play as loud and hard as we can. And we are LOADED with merch.”

USX Tour w/ Generation Of Vipers:
7/17/2013 The Boiler Room – Asheville, NC
7/18/2013 Flicker – Athens, GA
7/19/2013 529 – Altanta, GA w/ Sons of Tonatiuh, Across Tundras
7/20/2013 The Jinx – Savannah, GA
7/21/2013 Jakes – Columbia, SC

A six-pack of talented musicians, USX, having converted the name from their initial moniker U.S. Christmas, is a long-running and major element to the Neurot Recordings roster, with a plethora of LPs and other releases as well as Nate Hall’s maiden solo effort on the label’s roster. The latest USX studio effort, the epic The Valley Path, was released via Neurot in mid-2011, the expansive album consisting of one mammoth, nearly forty-minute track of esoteric beauty, showcasing the sextet’s uneasily-classified folk and psyche-driven rock at its most expansive yet.

U.S. Christmas, The Valley Path (2011)

Beginning right from the low-end percussive rumble of “Ritual,” an overwhelming fullness of sound is among the greatest assets working in favor of Howl and Filth, the third long-player from Tennessee post-doomers Generation of Vipers. Like their two prior outings, 2005’s Grace and 2007’s Dead Circle, Howl and Filth comes courtesy of the band’s own Red Witch Recordings, and I’ll admit it’s my first encounter with the trio, who make a solid first impression thanks to encompassing distortion and blown-out but perfectly swallowed vocals, mixed low under the guitars and bass by Converge’s Kurt Ballou, who also engineered the recording for Howl and Filth’s six tracks. The album seems structured for a vinyl side A/side B divide, the third cut “All of this is Mine” (2:55) being essentially an interlude that positions the band atmospherically leading into the record’s second half, but it works on CD as well, the Anthony Couri (Minsk) artwork no less striking in its sparseness in its digipak incarnation. That bleak, foreboding image makes a fine complement for the otherworldly darkness Generation of Vipers emit, offering a kind of Godflesh mechanicism in the bass of Travis Kammeyer that works to contrast the occasional excursions into melody from guitarist/vocalist Joshua “Asa” Holt. And of course, the rumble mentioned previously wouldn’t be possible without the excellent tom work of B.J. Graves, formerly of A Storm of Light’s touring lineup.

There’s a lot about Howl and Filth that’s going to be familiar, at least on a superficial level, to those who’ve followed the growth, sundry divergences within and capsizing of post-metal, but it’s worth highlighting the excellent treatment Ballou gives to Holt’s harsh vocals, using the growls and shouts to their full atmospheric potential as more than a mere expression of rage or post-modern disaffection, but as an instrument capable of coinciding with and even enhancing the guitars, bass and drums (periodic synth shows up as well, as on the piano-and-whisper-driven “All of this is Mine”). Holt’s guitar sounds that much louder for its position relative to the vocals, and likewise, Graves’ drumming that much more propulsive and Kammeyer’s bass thicker. It’s an easy mistake that’s often made to push all singing to the fore of a track, but no question that “Silent Shroud,” which builds on the momentum “Ritual” establishes at the very front, is stronger in ambience for the instrumentation’s lead position. As Holt moves to further prominence toward the end of the track, the drama is made palpable by his sheer ability to cut through the controlled chaos surrounding, so that as “All of this is Mine” offers momentary respite before “Eternal” kicks off the second half of Howl and Filth, the breather is well justified.

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