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UNBELIEVABLE: 4 - The Untold Story

“My lead skills are decent enough – but whoever we get is going to be light years ahead of me”: Brent Hinds’ exit left Mastodon at a crossroads. But for Bill Kelliher, it’s an opportunity for a fresh start with a new guitar wingman

After 25 years, the metal heroes are without a lead guitarist. In his first interview since the split, Kelliher reveals what went down – and what he’s looking for from a new six-string partner in crime

Guitar World

“I went into this looking at it as one of the coolest things I could ever be part of, but knowing the backlash could be brutal”: Ben Eller was wary of the reaction he’d get for stepping in for Brent Hinds in Mastodon – but that didn’t stop him saying yes

The Youtuber and Mastodon mega-fan stepped in at the last minute for the band’s Tool Live in the Sand set, even if it risked dividing the fanbase

Guitar World

“I’m as serious as a heart attack”: Mastodon are looking for their next guitar player – and they have a very specific list of requirements

Longtime guitarist Brent Hinds left the sludge/prog metal favourites earlier this month

Metal Hammer

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“I’m as serious as a heart attack with Mastodon. I’m not ready to give it up yet. So, we’re going to keep looking”: Bill Kelliher is searching far and wide for Mastodon's next guitarist – here's what the band are looking for

Esteemed YouTuber and Mastodon mega-fan Ben Eller was drafted in last minute following Brent Hinds' surprise exit, but the search for a permanent successor is far from over

Guitar World

“Playing the parts of one of my favorite guitarists ever is no easy task, but it was a joy”: YouTuber Ben Eller thanks fans and his Mastodon bandmates after stepping in to replace the departed Brent Hinds at the last minute

Will it turn into a full-time gig, though?

MusicRadar

Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher explains Brent Hinds exit: “Like a marriage, sometimes people grow apart, and they get interested in other things”

Hinds parted ways with the pioneering progressive/sludge metal act last week, ending his 25 years of service

Metal Hammer

“It’s amazing that we made it 25 years with the four of us”: Bill Kelliher opens up on Brent Hinds’ surprise Mastodon departure

News of Hinds’ shock exit was shared just days before the band’s set at the Tool in the Sand festival

Guitar World

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“Can you learn 17 Mastodon songs immediately? Please give some love, stage right, say hello to Mr Ben Eller”: YouTuber makes Mastodon live debut following Brent Hinds’ shock exit – but what’s next for the prog-metal behemoths?

Hinds is out. Eller is in for now. Brann Dailor has a black eye. Palace intrigue notwithstanding, “all 2025 touring plans will remain intact,” says the band

MusicRadar

“Can you learn 17 Mastodon songs immediately?” Mastodon recruit YouTuber for first show following Brent Hinds’ shock departure

The band mutually parted ways with their founding guitarist just days before they were due to play at the Tool in the Sand festival – and it seems the YouTuber wasn’t given much time to learn the material

Guitar World

“White whale! Holy Grail!”: How the epic tale of Moby-Dick inspired Mastodon’s greatest album

“The story paralleled the lives of the four dudes in Mastodon"

MusicRadar

“We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared, and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors”: Mastodon part ways with Brent Hinds

Hinds co-founded the band with guitarist Bill Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders, and drummer Brann Dailor in 2000

Guitar World

"After 25 monumental years together, Mastodon and Brent Hinds have mutually decided to part ways." Mastodon announce shock departure of guitarist Brent Hinds

By mutual consent, Brent Hinds leaves Mastodon

Metal Hammer

“Death happens to everyone and if it hasn’t happened yet it’s going to happen. So what better way to deal with it?”: How Mastodon found light in darkness with The Hunter

With 2011’s The Hunter, Mastodon ditched the concepts and came up with something different

Metal Hammer

"He said, 'The last thing I want is you guys going on David Letterman and the freakin’ drummer’s singing." How Mastodon left sludge metal behind for cosmic prog metal on Oblivion

A drunken fist-fight, childhood tragedy and an all-star producer all helped Mastodon channel their melodic tendencies on Oblivion

Metal Hammer

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Metal Hammer

"We were a bunch of dirty, stinky pirates leaving our families behind." How Mastodon reinvented themselves - and modern metal - on sludge-prog masterpiece Leviathan

Mastodon were already an underground sludge metal sensation in the early 2000s, but Leviathan turned them into a breakout success

Metal Hammer

"I got high on mushrooms with Brent Hinds from Mastodon." How Zeal & Ardor went from grotty squat-punks to one of the most innovative bands in extreme metal

Zeal & Ardor's new album Greif continues Basel's fine tradition of flashing their backsides at power and authority

Metal Hammer

“It’s dangerous when you’re a kid shooting up drugs. Me and two other guys made it out alive. The others are dead or in prison”: How Mastodon transcended tragedy and trauma to make Crack The Skye

The story of Mastodon’s 2009 prog metal masterpiece, Crack The Skye

Guitar World

“My mom would still be bugging me, like, ‘You need to go to college and get a real job.’ I’m in the van, getting baloney sandwiches on 100 bucks a night. And I’m 30!” Bill Kelliher and Mark Morton on how Leviathan and Ashes of the Wake changed everything

With two classic albums, both released on the same day, Lamb of God and Mastodon's fates have long been connected and now they're touring together, Kelliher and Morton reflect on a turning point for both bands

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Metal Hammer

“I don’t mess with mescaline any more. I did enough acid back in the day”: how Mastodon made a psychedelic prog metal masterpiece with Blood Mountain

Mastodon’s third album Blood Mountain saw them going from underground favourites to metal’s brain-frying new heroes

Louder

“We used to think, ‘Oh, there’s not enough craziness in this song; we need to add some stuff’ – but we learned that no, we don’t”: How Mastodon matured with Once More ‘Round The Sun

Sixth album was the moment they took stock of their previous achievements as they faced highest expectations to date

MusicRadar

"If we moved on with another concept album about something super-crazy and psychedelic and ridiculous, and very hard to wrap your head around, it was going to do my head in": How Mastodon changed approach on Curl Of The Burl and The Hunter

"I’d rather write some songs, have a good time, play some kick-ass jams, drink some wine, have some weed… party, have a good time"

Metal Hammer

“I feel like your spirit lives on in another reality. I feel like it gets transferred to another dimension”: how Mastodon transcended death and tragedy to make Emperor Of Sand

The story of Mastodon’s 2017 album Emperor Of Sand, a yell of defiance in the face of death

Guitar World

“As the bass player in a guitar-driven band, I don’t need to be in the spotlight. I don’t need to do any more than just rock out”: Troy Sanders on the perils and pleasures of playing bass in Mastodon

According to Troy Sanders, when it comes to laying down the bass parts in Mastodon, restraint is the key

Guitar World

“It’s heavy, thick and unique. It feels great, and the neck is incredible. And it’s heavy; but that’s okay because the weight of a guitar is very important to me. The thicker the better”: If you pick up Bill Kelliher’s new ESP guitar, you’ll know about it

The Mastodon guitarist – who aims to write simpler songs for the band's next album – had his favorite 9-string mapped and mutated into the LTD Silver Sunburst Royal Shiva

Metal Hammer

The tragic story behind Mastodon's Emperor Of Sand

Mastodon's 2017 album, Emperor Of Sand, continued the prog theme of Crack The Skye. But behind the heaviness, lay a family tragedy

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