On Their Own Terms
It’s genuinely good to see this one. Mastodon just put out a 35-minute short film honoring Brent Hinds’ life and career with the band, and after everything that’s swirled around his exit and his death, this is the right way to do it.
The film, titled Mastodon In The Room, debuted today. Hinds died in a motorcycle accident on August 20, 2025. Since then the tributes have kept coming, from a memorial march through Atlanta to a stained-glass mural at Hellfest to a brand-new memorial at the crash site this week. This is the band’s own contribution, and you can watch the full thing below.
There’s been endless speculation about Hinds’ life and his relationship with the band, especially given how unceremoniously he left, or got fired, before he died. When a band goes quiet, the media landscape fills the gap with conclusions that may not be based on the truth. Mastodon’s recent single “Your Ghost Again,” which I wrote about here, already carried that weight: anger and grief tangled together, a band that clearly misses him. This has obviously been a complicated, emotional process for the four of them. Rather than keep dodging the questions or letting other people write the story for them, they made something that honors him directly. That’s the move.
If you don’t have tickets to the upcoming tour yet, go. Mastodon put on a great show, and they’ll clearly be honoring Brent the whole way. Rest in peace, Brent. Watch the film above.
Source: Mastodon (official)