Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds leaves band after 25 years, “we wish him nothing but success and happiness”
“We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared” read a statement from the band.
Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images
Mastodon have announced that their founding guitar player, Brent Hinds, has left the band after 25 years, but Georgian heavy metal heroes have no plans to call it a day, and are still promising to fulfil upcoming tour commitments without their lead guitarist.
In a statement posted to Instagram, the band wrote, “Friends and fans, after 25 monumental years together, Mastodon and Brent Hinds have mutually decided to part ways.”
“We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared,” the statement continued. “We wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors.”
The good news for Mastodon fans is that the band seem to have no intention of calling it a day despite losing one of the key creative fulcrums of the band for a quarter of a century.
“We are still very inspired and excited to show up for fans in this next chapter of Mastodon,” the band explained. “As we move forward, all 2025 touring plans will remain intact. We look forward to seeing you on the road.”
Mastodon celebrated 20 years of their hugely influential and career-defining album, Leviathan in 2024, and when Guitar.com spoke to rhythm guitarist Bill Kelliher about that at the tail end of last year, he revealed that he was hard at work making new music for Mastodon.
“I’m always writing,” Kelliher told us. “I’m always compiling riffs, and songs ideas and tracking them and then adding harmonies, and adding all the parts on top, and layering. I like to make them thick and use different guitars and different amps, and experiment with different tones.”
The Mastodon line-up of Kelliher, Hinds, Brann Dailor (drums) and Troy Sanders (bass) has remained unchanged since original lead singer Eric Saner left the band in 2000. Their most recent studio album, Hushed and Grim, was released in 2021.