Brent Hinds Who? Mastodon’s Next Record Won’t Have Any Trace of Former Guitarist
It’s wild to think how much has changed within Mastodon over the last couple weeks. Only 16 days ago, the band was as it had always been, with Brann Dailor, Bill Kelliher, Troy Sanders, and Brent Hinds playing as a cohesive unit. Then on March 5, it was announced that Hinds was no longer in the band and then a few days later they played a show in Brazil with YouTuber Ben Eller filling in. Now we’re in a world where we don’t know if Eller’s staying with the band long term or if they’re searching for a replacement for Hinds at all.
But what we do know, thanks to a recent interview with Guitar World, is that their 2021 release Hushed and Grin will be the last one to feature Hinds’ guitar work. In a recent interview, Kelliher revealed that the next record to come from Mastodon will feature tunes that solely the three remaining members wrote together.
“It’ll be the three of us. It’s stuff the three of us have written together.”
Apparently the new record will be finished later this year, so it sounds like they’re far enough along for Kelliher to give that sort of timetable, though we still have no idea who played lead guitar on it. As for the future of the band, Kelliher remarked that whoever takes Hinds’ place will have to be a killer guitar player.
“We’ll have to see. My lead guitar skills are decent enough – but whoever we get is going to be light years ahead of me. So it depends on the part and the song and if there are certain leads that I write that I want to play.
“If the other guitarist is like, ‘Hey, I wrote this,’ and I like it better than what I wrote, we’ll use his part. I definitely write for the best of the song and what’s best for the band.
“I don’t get my feelings hurt when someone’s like, ‘That riff is not that great.’ It’s like, ‘Okay, I’ll just write another one or change it.’ That goes for leads as well. So, as long as it’s what’s best for the song, it doesn’t matter who plays it. As long as it fits, it’s awesome”
With so much uncertainty in the air regarding this open guitar slot, Mastodon are still on the hook for an upcoming tour with Coheed and Cambria and Periphery starting in May, with some additional shows sprinkled in for good measure. You can check out the full list of dates below.
Mastodon 2025 tour dates
5/8-5/11 – Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival
5/10 – Salem, VA @ Salem Civic Center*
5/11 – Knoxville, TN @ Knoxville Civic Coliseum*
5/13 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater*
5/15 – Wilmington, NC @ Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park*
5/16 – Charleston, SC @ Firefly Distillery*
5/15-5/18 – Daytona Beach, FL @ Welcome to Rockville
5/19 – Estero, FL @ Hertz Arena*
5/21 – Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater*
5/22 – Lexington, KY @Rupp Arena*
5/24 @ Virginia Beach, VA @ The Dome*
5/25 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater*
5/26 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Broadview Stage at SPAC*
5/28 – Portland, ME @ Cross Insurance Arena*
5/30 – Syracuse, NY @ Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview*
5/31 – Scranton, PA @ The Pavilion at Montage Mountain*
6/1 – Youngstown, OH @ Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre*
6/3 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Allen County War Memorial Coliseum*
6/4 – Peoria, IL @ Peoria Civic Center Arena*
6/6 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena*
6/7 – Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center*
6/8 – Waukee, IA @ Vibrant Music Hall*
7/3 – Cardiff, UK @ Blackweir Fields
7/3-7/13 – Quebec City, QC – Festival Dete De Quebec
7/5 – Birmingham, UK @ Villa Park %$
7/6 – London, UK @ Finsbury Park %
7/30-8/3 – Rasnov, Romania @ Rockstadt Extreme Fest
7/31 – Szekesfhervar, Hungary @ Fezen Festival
8/7-8/10 – Walton-On-Trent @ Bloodstock Open Air
8/8-8/10 – Kortrijk, Belgium @ Alcatraz Festival
8/15-8/17 – Vallamand, Switzerland @ Rock The Lakes
8/15-8/17 – Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Dynamo Metal Fest
*w/ Coheed and Cambria
% w/ Slayer
$ w/ Ozzy Osbourne
