Surprise Drop. Sounds Like 2025 Felt.
Holy surprise drop, Batman! Mastodon just released “Your Ghost Again” — their first new music since the departure and death of co-founding guitarist Brent Hinds.
Hinds left the band in March 2025 after 25 years. He died in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta that August. I was bummed as anybody when he announced he was leaving. I was as shockingly sad as anybody when the news of his death came down.
“Your Ghost Again” doesn’t sidestep any of that. The title alone says what no interview probably could. The song has the classic Mastodon feel — that locked-in, riff-stacked DNA that made Crack the Skye and Blood Mountain feel like their own universe. But it sounds angrier somehow. And that’s not even the whole picture: the track moves through different emotional territory, with some genuinely progressive turns that wouldn’t feel out of place on newer Opeth. It’s not a simple grief song. It’s a complicated song about a complicated few years.
I don’t blame them for the anger. Brann Dailor said earlier this year that making this album was “a very emotional time” — he lost his mother, the band went through everything with Hinds, and then lost him completely. That’s all in the music.
2025 was a rough year for Mastodon. “Your Ghost Again” is a statement: they’re still here, and they’re still making fantastic music. Just louder about it.
There’s more: Mastodon has announced The Poisonous Weapons Tour — 27 North American dates this fall with Deafheaven and Alcest. That support lineup alone justifies the ticket price. The run opens September 16 in Orlando and closes October 24 in Dallas, with stops in Brooklyn (9/24), Chicago (10/2), Los Angeles (10/10), and Atlanta (10/22). Full routing and tickets at mastodonrocks.com.
