According to Blabbermouth.net, Mastodon drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor has confirmed the band’s highly anticipated ninth studio album is “finished.” The upcoming LP will be the acclaimed Atlanta progressive metallers’ first without co-founding guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, who departed from the band back in March 2025. Hinds passed away in a motorcycle accident five months later and he was replaced by touring guitarist Nick Johnston, who reportedly will appear on the new studio album.
“We’re very excited about it,” Dailor said in a recent interview. “It was a hard record to make. It was a very emotional time for us. I lost my mom, we went through all this turmoil with Brent, and then he passed away. It’s been tough. It’s all in the music, it’s all in the songs, and I’m excited to release it and get it out there into the world because we’ve been sitting on it for a while. A lot of this stuff, at least the skeletons of what this album is, we’ve been sitting on for two years now. A lot was going on.”
Hinds was reportedly riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle late on August 20, 2025, when he was hit by an SUV turning left and failing to yield at the intersection of Memorial Drive SE and Boulevard SE, less than two miles from downtown Atlanta, according to Atlanta police. The artist was found unresponsive by officers, who responded to the crash around 11:35 p.m. and was pronounced dead by medical workers.
Photo Credit: Marv Watson
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