BRENT HINDS Supposedly Takes An Even More Personal Shot At Former MASTODON Bandmates: “Only I Know Who They Really Are”

The Mastodon drama has been ongoing ever since it was announced that vocalist Brent Hinds was relieved from his duties in Mastodon on March 5th.

After 25 years, the founding guitarist and vocalist had “mutually decided to part ways” with Mastodon – but as time has gone on, it’s come into question just how amicable the split was.

In the band’s original statement posted in March, they said:

“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 and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors. We are still very inspired and excited to show up for fans in this next chapter of Mastodon. As we move forward, all 2025 touring plans will remain intact. We look forward to seeing you on the road.”

Then, Mastodon played a show two days later, with well-known YouTuber Ben Eller as the guitarist.

About a week after it was announced Hinds was leaving Mastodon, remaining guitarist Bill Kelliher chatted to Guitar World, giving a bit more insight to the situation without delving into what happened behind the scenes that led to the split:

“What can you say about the legacy of Mastodon‘s first 25 years with Brent? It’s been a fun, wild fucking ride, that’s for sure. We achieved a lot of things that I never in a million years would have imagined. There’s been Grammys, touring with our heroes, like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Motorhead, and Tool. I cherish all of that. Like a marriage, sometimes people grow apart, and they get interested in other things. We wish nothing but the best for Brent in chasing his dreams.

“You know, it’s amazing that we made it 25 years with the four of us. I mean, it’s like being married to three other dudes, traveling the world, trying to stay the course, and having everybody agree. That we managed to do it this long, I feel like that’s a feat in itself. You could never replace any of us because we [are the] the sum of four parts.

“That doesn’t mean there’s not someone else out there that has stuff to offer in a new direction. I think I’ll just leave it there, you know? It was a hard decision we all had to make. It’s just… it was just time.”

By the 15th of March, it was well-known that Mastodon was looking for Brent Hinds replacement, and the band played several sets with fill-in guitarists while Hinds played sets of his own with other projects, Mastodon eventually mentioning that Hinds was not going to be on the new record, and the band truly wanted to focus on an all-around collaboration on the next piece of work released.

Then, in late June, Hinds made headlines when he finally made a public comment about the split for the first time, even despite his passive aggressive jabs here and there, and it wasn’t what people expected.

When a picture posted to Mastodon‘s Instagram celebrating the fact that Once More ‘Round The Sun had turn ten that day, a fan commented that “Halloween” was their favorite track and they’ll miss Hinds being in the band. 

Hinds didn’t hold back: “I want [sic] miss being in a shit band with horrible humans.”

After that once-off comment, Hinds kept relatively to himself until yesterday (9th August) when a photo reportedly surfaced that was screenshots that Hinds had left on another Instagram post. ThePRP says the comment seems to be related to a 2012 live video of Brent Hinds‘ guitar solo in “Crack The Skye,” in which the ex-Mastodon vocalist says the following:

“My Guitar sounds great, but Troy [Sanders] and prawn [supposed nickname for Brann Dailor] sound absolutely horrible ..they are way out of key ..embarrassing and they kicked me out of the band for embarrassing them for being who I am ..but what about who they are ? They are two people that can’t sing..together live or anywhere else in the world ..everything they try to sing in the studio is manipulated by autotune because they’re incapable of singing in key..fuck these guys ..only I know who they really are ..they are the biggest fans of them self’s .. I’ve never seen anyone in my life look in the mirror more than Troy Sanders. He thinks he’s God’s gift to anything. I’ve never met three people that were so full of themselves. It’s disgusting.”

Find the screenshot here.

While the validity of the comment is yet to be confirmed, based on Hinds internet activity and sly comments over the last few months, it’s easy to assume that the screenshot is most likely legitimate, and the Mastodon split was indeed not amicable. And Hinds‘ comment about him being the only person who “knows who they really are” feels ominous.

The story may continue to develop.