MASTODON have released a 35-minute video in which the band's members reflect at length on their relationship with co-founding guitarist and vocalist Brent Hinds, who died in a motorcycle accident less than half a year after departing the band.
Hinds left MASTODON in March 2025, with the band saying at the time that he and the group had "mutually decided to part ways" after "25 monumental years together." He was replaced by touring guitarist Nick Johnston, who is reportedly set to appear on MASTODON's upcoming studio album. Five months after his departure, on August 20, 2025, Hinds was killed when he was struck by an SUV while riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Atlanta. According to a police crash report, Hinds was found at fault, having been traveling between 63 and 68 mph — roughly double the posted limit — at the intersection where the collision occurred.
In a message accompanying the new video, MASTODON wrote: "As we enter a new chapter of MASTODON we want to do this the right way and talk about Brent. We've all seen the clips, headlines, and speculations, but we haven't told our story in our own words about our 25 year relationship." The band described Hinds candidly, writing: "It isn't easy to talk about Brent, he was our family, someone we all loved wholeheartedly. He was a wild man, our wild man, and that came with some challenges. Both things are true and we aren't interested in chasing one truth over the other."
The message continued: "Losing him has meant sitting with a type of grief we never expected. No more hugs, no more high fives, no more disagreements, no more making up. That part has been hard, it's real. We put this conversation out there so you can hear it directly from us, you all deserve that."
Since 2000, Hinds had shared guitar and vocal duties in MASTODON alongside bassist/singer Troy Sanders, drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher, with the lineup remaining unchanged for a quarter century before his departure. The band's message arrives as MASTODON wraps a European summer tour and looks toward new music, framing the video as an attempt to address Hinds' death directly and on their own terms rather than leave the story to speculation.