Twenty-five years is a lifetime in heavy metal. Most bands don't make it past their first van tour without someone getting punched or quitting to sell real estate. But for a quarter-century, the Atlanta-based behemoth Mastodon was the exception to every rule. They had the same four guys—Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher, Troy Sanders, and Brann Dailor—since the very beginning. Then, the news dropped. Brent Hinds left Mastodon, and the metal world basically imploded.
Honestly, it wasn't just a lineup change. It felt like the end of an era.
If you’ve followed the band, you know Brent was always the wild card. He was the guy with the face tattoo, the chicken-picking guitar style that shouldn't work in sludge metal but somehow did, and a personality that could be, well, "unpredictable" is putting it lightly. When the official statement came out in March 2025, it used all the standard industry words. "Mutual decision." "Deeply proud." "Success in future endeavors." We've heard it all before.
But the real story? It got messy. Fast.
Why the split wasn't as mutual as we thought
For a few weeks, fans tried to be adult about it. We told ourselves that maybe 25 years of touring is just exhausting. Then the Instagram comments started. Brent doesn't really do "corporate filters," and he definitely didn't start then.
By June 2025, the "mutual" narrative was dead. Replying to a fan who said they'd miss him, Brent didn't hold back. He called his former bandmates "horrible humans" and described Mastodon as a "shit band." You don't say that about people you just had an amicable breakup with. It felt personal. It felt raw.
Later that summer, things got even more heated. Brent claimed he was actually kicked out for "embarrassing" the rest of the band by just being himself. He went after Troy and Brann’s vocals, too, saying they were "way out of key" and "manipulated by autotune" in the studio. It was a scorched-earth policy.
The tragic turn of August 2025
Just as the drama was reaching a boiling point, the story took a devastating turn that no one saw coming. On August 20, 2025, Brent Hinds passed away following a fatal motorcycle accident. He was only 51.
It’s hard to even describe the shift in the community. One day everyone was arguing about Instagram comments and guitar tones, and the next, we were mourning one of the most unique voices in modern music. The remaining members of Mastodon, despite the recent bad blood, released a statement expressing "unfathomable sadness and grief."
The acrimony of the previous months suddenly felt small. It was a reminder that behind the "Brent Hinds left Mastodon" headlines and the public feuds, these were guys who had grown up together. They had shared Grammy wins, world tours, and the loss of family members.
What happened to the music?
Mastodon had to keep moving. They had tours booked. They had a legacy to protect.
- The Fill-ins: Initially, they tapped YouTuber and guitar teacher Ben Eller to fill in for their appearance at Tool’s "Live in the Sand" festival.
- The Successor: Eventually, they brought in Canadian virtuoso Nick Johnston.
- The New Sound: Bill Kelliher has been vocal about the fact that the "new" Mastodon is writing differently. Johnston isn't trying to be Brent—which is smart, because you can’t replace a guy who plays like he’s from another planet.
Brent Hinds left Mastodon a massive legacy
You can’t talk about 21st-century metal without talking about Brent’s contributions. From the raw, prehistoric riffs on Remission to the prog-rock masterpiece that was Crack the Skye, his DNA is everywhere.
He brought a sense of danger to the band. When you saw Mastodon live, you never knew if Brent was going to play the solo of his life or spend half the set messing with his pedals while staring at the ceiling. That was the draw. He was a "real" rockstar in an age where everything feels a bit too polished.
People often ask if there’s unreleased material. Interestingly, Bill Kelliher mentioned in late 2025 that there is a "trove" of Brent’s solo material that never saw the light of day. He described it as "cool as shit," which is exactly what you'd expect from a guy who lived and breathed music on his own terms.
What to do if you’re a fan right now
If you’re still reeling from the news or just catching up, here is how you can best honor that era of the band:
- Listen to 'Cold Dark Place': This 2017 EP was essentially a Brent Hinds solo project released under the Mastodon name. It captures his "dark Americana" vibe perfectly and shows where his head was at toward the end.
- Explore his side projects: Check out Fiend Without a Face (surfabilly) or West End Motel. They show the range he had outside of the heavy riffs.
- Support the new lineup: Mastodon is currently recording with Nick Johnston. It’s going to be different. It might even be "stronger" in terms of technical precision, as Bill has suggested, but it will never be the same.
The reality is that Brent Hinds left Mastodon in the most chaotic way possible—first through a rift, and then through a tragedy. But the music he left behind remains some of the most influential work in the genre. He was a maverick to the very end.
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Keep an eye out for the upcoming tribute releases. Rumors are swirling about a "Lost Albums" collection featuring those unreleased solo tracks, which might finally give us a look into the songs Brent was writing when he wasn't focused on the "beast" that was Mastodon.