“He said some hurtful things, but I know he didn’t mean it”: Brann Dailor reflects on Mastodon’s public fallout with late guitarist Brent Hinds
Last year, the metal world was rocked when it was announced that Mastodon founding guitarist Brent Hinds had died in a motorcycle accident.
The guitarist had departed the longstanding Atlanta metal outfit earlier in 2025, and while the decision was described as mutual at the time, the split later became somewhat acrimonious. Three months after his exit, Brent Hinds described his former bandmates as a “shit band with horrible humans”.
But despite the harsh words uttered during the heat of the split, Hinds’ former bandmates – guitarist Bill Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders and drummer Brann Dailor – hold nothing but respect and fond memories for the 24 years they shared together as one of the top bands in the metal scene.
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In an interview in the latest print issue of Classic Rock, drummer Brann Dailor reflects on the years they spent together, and the circumstances surrounding Brent Hinds’ departure from the band.
“There’s 25 years of living with this guy,” he says. “When you have this otherworldly bond, this really deep emotional place together through music, it’s an elevated relationship. But when we did the Ashes of Leviathan tour, I could finally see that it had run its course with him. We needed some kind of change, because it was dragging everybody down.
“It became really hard to get Brent to commit to anything. He just wanted to go do his own thing, ride his motorcycle and be a free spirit.”
Dailor continues, reflecting on the thorny words said by Hinds about his former bandmates: “He was a man scorned. He said some hurtful things, but I know he didn’t mean it.
“I was always hopeful that he was going to call me at some point and be like: ‘Dude, I’m done being a ding-dong. Can I come back? I have a riff…’ We were 100% sure he would’ve done that.”
Just a year on, the death of Brent Hinds still affects the members of Mastodon profoundly.
“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,” the band wrote in July.
“Both things are true and we aren’t interested in chasing one truth over the other. 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.”
“I thought there’d be that turnaround where we’d meet, apologise, hug and say, ‘I love you.’ I didn’t know when, but I knew it would happen. And I was fucking wrong,” added Troy Sanders.
Since Hinds’ death last year, Mastodon have taken on two new members: Nick Jonhston on lead guitar, and keyboardist João Nogueira.
Last month saw the release of the band’s ninth studio album and first without Brent Hinds, Marrow Deep. The band have a string of US tour dates planned for the rest of the year to promote the album, alongside Deafheaven and Alcest.
For a full list of dates, head to MastodonRocks.com.
The post “He said some hurtful things, but I know he didn’t mean it”: Brann Dailor reflects on Mastodon’s public fallout with late guitarist Brent Hinds appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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