After 25 years together, Mastodon‘s split with vocalist/guitarist Brent Hinds this past March remains one of the more shocking lineup departures of 2025. Up until that point, the progressive sludge metal outfit had managed to maintain the same lineup throughout their career, with the only casualty being the exit of their original vocalist Eric Saner back in 2000.
However, after Mastodon made the surprising announcement that they had chosen to part ways with Hinds, it soon became clear that that split was not amicable. Hinds himself was quick to take numerous shots at his former bandmates on social media, with snide commentary and occasional direct condemnations. At one point he went so far as to proclaim his former musical outlet to be “a sh*t band with horrible humans.”
For their part, the remaining members of Mastodon have continued to take the proverbial high road in public at least, refraining from disparaging Hinds. A March conversation with Guitar World found guitarist Bill Kelliher instead offering a diplomatic explanation, saying in part, “Like a marriage, sometimes people grow apart, and they get interested in other things. We wish nothing but the best for Brent in chasing his dreams.”
With the circumstances that led to his apparent ousting remaining private, it’s hard to tell Hinds‘ continued bitterness is justifiable. However, months after the split took place it doesn’t seem to have abated. The most recent evidence of his lingering resentment comes via a new Instagram comment being attributed to him.
The comment in question was made earlier this week in relation to a 2012 live video of his performance of a guitar solo for the song “Crack The Skye“. A screencap of that comment has been gaining traction on the band’s subreddit, and once again finds him disparaging his ex-bandmates. Here’s what Hinds said in his latest tirade:
“My Guitar sounds great, but Troy and prawn [an apparent nickname for Brann] sound absolutely horrible ..they are way out of key ..embarrassing and they kicked me out of the band for embarrassing them for being who I am ..but what about who they are ? They are two people that can’t sing..together live or anywhere else in the world ..everything they try to sing in the studio is manipulated by autotune because they’re incapable of singing in key..fuck these guys ..only I know who they really are ..they are the biggest fans of them self’s .. I’ve never seen anyone in my life look in the mirror more than Troy Sanders. He thinks he’s God’s gift to anything. I’ve never met three people that were so full of themselves. It’s disgusting.”
Since parting ways, Mastodon have hired on guitarist Nick Johnston and have shifted their attention to working on their first studio album without Hinds. Meanwhile, Hinds has been devoting his time to his various other groups, including Fiend Without A Face, West End Motel and more.
Update: August 11th, 2025 08:23am:
The comments in question can be found via this Instagram post.
