MASTODON’s New Record Will Not Feature BRENT HINDS

Mastodon surprisingly split with co-founding guitarist Brent Hinds on March 5, and then played their first Hinds-less show on March 9 at Tool‘s Live In The Sand with YouTube Ben Eller filling in. And while it’s not clear if Eller will be Mastodon‘s permanent new guitarist, we’re all wondering about the new record and if Hinds was a part of it at all.

In a shocking new comment to Guitar World, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher said the new record is just him, bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders, and drummer and vocalist Brann Dailor: “It’ll be the three of us. It’s stuff the three of us have written together.” Kelliher also noted that Mastodon plans to finish the record up this year, so who knows who played lead guitar on it – maybe Kelliher?

On the same topic in the same interview, Kelliher noted that whoever Mastodon gets to join the band should be one hell of a guitarist. “We’ll have to see. My lead guitar skills are decent enough – but whoever we get is going to be light years ahead of me. So it depends on the part and the song and if there are certain leads that I write that I want to play.

“If the other guitarist is like, ‘Hey, I wrote this,’ and I like it better than what I wrote, we’ll use his part. I definitely write for the best of the song and what’s best for the band.

“I don’t get my feelings hurt when someone’s like, ‘That riff is not that great.’ It’s like, ‘Okay, I’ll just write another one or change it.’ That goes for leads as well. So, as long as it’s what’s best for the song, it doesn’t matter who plays it. As long as it fits, it’s awesome”

Mastodon is gonna be touring with Coheed And Cambria and Periphery this May and June. The tour kicks off on May 10 at Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA and wraps up about a month later on June 8 at Vibrant Music Hall in Waukee, IA. Tickets are available here.

5/10 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center
5/11 Knoxville, TN Knoxville Civic Coliseum
5/13 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater
5/15 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park
5/16 Charleston, SC Firefly Distillery
5/17 Augusta, GA William B Bell Auditorium (no Mastodon)
5/19 Estero, FL Hertz Arena
5/21 Huntsville, AL Orion Amphitheater
5/22 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena
5/24 Virginia Beach, VA The Dome
5/25 Bridgeport, CT Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
5/26 Saratoga Springs, NY Broadview Stage at SPAC
5/28 Portland, ME Cross Insurance Arena
5/30 Syracuse, NY Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview
5/31 Scranton, PA The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
6/1 Youngstown, OH Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre
6/3 Fort Wayne, IN Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
6/4 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center Arena
6/6 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
6/7 Green Bay, WI Resch Center
6/8 Waukee, IA Vibrant Music Hall