Former Mastodon Member Brent Hinds Dead At 51
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Brent Hinds, former guitarist and vocalist for the great Atlanta metal band Mastodon, has died. Atlanta News First reports that Hinds was killed on Wednesday night in a motorcycle crash. According to Atlanta police, Hinds was riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle when the driver of a BMW SUV failed to yield. Hinds was 51.
The news of Hinds’ death is unbelievably shocking and hard to believe. Mastodon were always a band without a frontman, with three different members splitting lead-vocal duties. But the red-bearded, face-tatted Hinds, always a wildman onstage, was easily the most recognizable member of the band. Hinds co-founded Mastodon with his three bandmates Troy Sanders, Bill Kelliher, and Brann Dailor in 2000, and that lineup remained stable for a quarter-century. Earlier this year, Hinds parted ways with Mastodon in contentious fashion. Just recently, Hinds called his former bandmates “horrible humans” and confirmed that he’d been fired from the group. It was already hard to imagine how Mastodon would work without Hinds. Now, his sudden passing will hang over the band’s history forever.
The remaining members of Mastodon have issued this statement:
We are in a state of unfathomable sadness and grief… last night Brent Hinds passed away as a result of a tragic accident. We are heartbroken, shocked, and still trying to process the loss of this creative force with whom we’ve shared so many triumphs, milestones, and the creation of music that has touched the hearts of so many. Our hearts are with Brent’s family, friends, and fans. At this time, we please ask that you respect everyone’s privacy during this difficult time.
RIP Brent.
William Brent Hinds was born in Helena, Alabama, and he moved to Atlanta as a young man. In 1996, Hinds and Troy Sanders had a band called Four-Hour Fogger, who released one 7″. In 2000, Sanders and Hinds met Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor at a High On Fire show, and the four of them formed Mastodon. Together, they landed on a furious, wooly sound that combined technical complexity with primal Southern roar. Mastodon released their first 7″ on the Baltimore indie Reptilian Records in 2001, and that led to a deal with the larger metal label Relapse, which released the band’s Lifesblood EP that same year. In 2002, Mastodon dropped their full-length debut Remission, an absolute classic of the underground metal form.
Mastodon went for something more epic with their sophomore album, 2004’s Leviathan. The band built a vast conceptual arc around Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, and their sound really did conjure the mysterious, destructive force of a colossal seabeast. It might be the single best metal album of this century. That record took Mastodon outside of underground metal circles, introducing them to Slayer-sized mainstream metal crowds and to curious indie rock onlookers. They signed to Warner Bros. and followed Leviathan with 2006’s Blood Mountain, another epic.
After making the major-label leap, Mastodon played festivals, performed on late-night shows, and toured with Metallica. In 2007, they performed at the VMAs with Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme, and Hinds was injured after reportedly getting into a drunken fight with System Of A Down’s Shavo Odadjian. Mastodon’s sound grew proggier on 2009’s Crack The Skye and then sleeker on 2011’s The Hunter.
Mastodon scored the 2010 comic-book film Jonah Hex, and Hinds and his bandmates played Wildings on a couple of Game Of Thrones episodes. While Mastodon ruled over the metal world, Hinds also took part in side projects like Fiend Without A Face, West End Motel, Giraffe Tongue Orchestra, and Legend Of The Seagullmen, and he guested on records from bands like Killswitch Engage, the Dillinger Escape Plan, the Black Lips, Zoroaster, and CKY.
Mastodon continued to tour and record constantly until very recently. Their most recent album Hushed And Grim came out in 2021, and the band has been touring without Hinds for the past few months. Below, check out some of Hinds’ work.
