Mastodon share short film honoring Brent Hinds

Mastodon have released a short film called “The Mastodon in the Room,” about their relationship with their late, former guitarist Brent Hinds, who died last year in a motorcycle accident after parting ways with the band. The half-hour film features archival footage from early tours with Hinds, as well as commentary from Troy Sanders, Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher.

“It isn’t easy to talk about Brent, he was our family, someone we all loved wholeheartedly,” the group said in a statement. “He was a wild man, our wild man, and that came with some challenges. 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.”

The three members of Mastodon discuss the two decades they spent recording and touring with Hinds, honoring his impact on the band and processing their grief over his death, as well as an honest discussion of the self-destructive behavior that led to his departure from the band. They also go into detail about how the good times and bad times would frequently go hand in hand.

“The shows were good, especially after an incident,” Dailor says during one moment. “The next show after an incident, the three of us knew, this is gonna be fuckin’ awesome—the redemption show.”

Watch the short film below.

Mastodon’s final album with Hinds was 2021’s Hushed and Grim. Read our Hall of Fame feature on their 2004 album, Leviathan.