God damnit I hate doing these pieces lately. Gone way too young is (unusually) former Mastodon guitarist and lovable oddball Brent Hinds. A huge band shaping my youth from their start with “Remission” in 2000, Mastodon was always a constant with me. And loved their sound change the further they evolved, and to no shock if you know me well “Crack The Skye”. Their most adventurous and impressive album to date IMO had his artistic fingerprints all over it. “Blood Mountain” and “Leviathan” rule too, without any debate. But his unique southern rock/country/chicken pickin’ style was so cool. Mastodon was already a unique and odd band in many ways.
Hinds clearly has his demons which probably played a role in his firing from his own band. He was losing interest in the band and showed for quite some time. It was sad how it all went down, especially for those who loved the band like myself. My favorite Hinds moment? He had a lot but oddly this one stuck out to me at least. The band played at Download in 2007. Brent shared vocal duty in the band and had a terrible sickness. Sure you could say they got paid nicely and did it for the money, or the booze and drugs numbed the pain. No matter the reason, he sang his parts like a professional. He didn’t puss out and performed like a MAN. Brent’s voice sounded awful but the most cliche saying applies here. The show must go on. And it did.
He was always in the news, whether it was controversy or about Mastodon. He was one of those guys that made you say “yeah that’s something Brent would do” or “that’s so Brent”. He helped the band achieve multiple Grammy nominations. He helped turn a headlining band into a headlining festival band. They got on big tours and big festivals as a headliner. And deservingly so. He poured his heart and soul into Mastodon and was so sad to see him start to check out. I was always a big Brent fan and man did I love his playing.
Hinds always had the coolest god damn guitars like this see-through V pictured above. His band and style definitely had an influence on my own guitar playing and songwriting. When I found out he passed in an accident (not of his doing, may I add) , like with Ozzy I felt a piece of my life disappeared. Sure the music will always be there and that’s what makes it great. But the fact some of your heroes are gone regardless crushed you. Dirty B Hinds I’ll miss the hell of out of you. Thank you for the great music, majestic guitar solos and making us laugh so much.
“Fallen from Grace cause I’ve been away too long….leaving you behind with my lonesome song…now I’m lost….in oblivion”.
