The album that never was: Brent Hinds’ forgotten solo project

In a year that saw the light of innumerable metal and hard rock icons extinguished, the untimely death of former Mastodon guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds in a motorbike accident this past August was just another devastating blow. Hinds’ untimely death at the age of 51 was especially devastating because it happened not just a month after Osbourne‘s passing but also about six months after his acrimonious breakup with Mastodon in the first few months of 2025. Although some fans hoped that the progressive sludge band would eventually make amends with Hinds and come back stronger as a result, fate had other ideas.

Though his most well-known project was undoubtedly Mastodon, Hinds had a number of other projects under his belt, such as Fiend Without A Face and West End Motel. Before his death, Hinds also had an unreleased solo record in the works, according to the latter’s drummer, Duane Trucks. Trucks informed Metal Hammer that Hinds personally gave him a copy of that record, as reported by theprp.

Brent’s got an entire album that hasn’t seen the light of day. He sent me the whole album of tunes and it’s cool as shit. You rarely meet someone with so many facets who does things in such an honest, vulnerable way. He really fucking meant what he was playing. It was not a put-on. He wasn’t just doing this for a check.