Words By Caine Blackthorn
Brent Hinds (1974–2025)
Brent Hinds, the legendary co-founder, guitarist, and co-vocalist of Mastodon, tragically died on August 20, 2025, at age 51 in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta. His passing leaves a silence where a creative hurricane used to blaze.
Brent was riding his Harley Davidson late on August 20 when an SUV failed to yield at an intersection, striking him. He didn’t survive the crash.
Mastodon released an emotional statement expressing their “state of unfathomable sadness and grief” and asked for privacy during this deeply painful time.
Born in Alabama in 1974, Brent helped form Mastodon in Atlanta in 2000. His riffs shaped iconic albums like Remission, Leviathan, Emperor of Sand, and Hushed and Grim.
Brent Hinds’ journey in music was never one of half measures. As a founding member of Mastodon, he helped carve out a sound that was as heavy as it was adventurous, blending sludge, progressive, and metal into something unmistakably their own. From Remission and Leviathan to Crack the Skye, Emperor of Sand, and Hushed and Grim, his riffs and vocals gave Mastodon much of its ferocity and soul.
Earlier this year, Hinds and Mastodon went their separate ways. The band described the decision as mutual, though Brent later expressed that he felt pushed out. It was a difficult chapter for fans to process, given how intertwined he was with the band’s identity. Yet even with that fracture, the impact of his two decades with Mastodon remains untouchable. His playing influenced an entire generation of guitarists, and his spirit raw, fiery, often unfiltered helped shape modern metal into what it is today.
Beyond Mastodon, Brent lent his talents to projects like Giraffe Tongue Orchestra, Fiend Without a Face, and West End Motel, proving his creativity could never be confined to one band alone. He was a restless, fearless musician, unafraid to experiment, unafraid to speak his mind, and unafraid to play from the gut.
Brent Hinds’ passing is a wound that will take time for the metal world to process. He was a guitarist who played like every note mattered, a songwriter who pushed boundaries, and a presence who carried both fire and vulnerability. At 51, he should have had many more years to ride, to create, and to surprise us.
But if his life was cut short, his music was not. Every riff he wrote, every solo that scorched the air, every album that bore his fingerprints, they remain. Fans will return to those records, not only to mourn what was lost, but to celebrate what he gave.
Brent’s final journey came far too soon, but his sound still rides on. And for those who loved him, who played with him, and who found pieces of themselves in his music. He will never be forgotten.
“He may have left the intersection of life suddenly, but his riffs will ride on in every ear that ever heard them.”
The staff at Metal Lair wish to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and bandmates of Brent Hinds during this difficult time.