"What will his legacy be? His guitar playing. He could bend just one note and tell a whole story. I can hear David Gilmour in his playing." Slipknot member Alessandro ‘V-Man’ Venturella pays tribute to Mastodon guitarist and his dear friend, Brent Hinds

V-Man superimposed onto a photo of Brent Hinds playing guitar.

As the summer of 2025 drew to a close, we received the shocking news that Brent Hinds, one of metal’s most inventive guitarists and the mercurial heart of Mastodon, had died in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta.

Born William Brent Hinds on January 16, 1974, in Helena, Alabama, he co-founded Mastodon in 2000 with Troy Sanders, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor, helping shape eight albums of sprawling, progressive metal – although he parted ways with the band in March. Brent’s playing fused classical technique, bluegrass picking, and psychedelic daring, while his stage presence and creativity made him a singular figure in heavy music.