Louder AAA
Grammy-winning progressive sludge metal luminaries Mastodon have returned with new single Your Ghost Again, their first piece of music since the departure and death of founding guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds last year.
The track, released today (June 2), was produced by Patrik Berger (Taylor Swift, Robyn) and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. The Atlanta band say that the song is a tribute to Hinds.
“Your Ghost Again is about being in those familiar places you used to be with people, which for us is in the studio,” comments drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor (via Kerrang!). “I just kept seeing [Hinds] out of the corner of my eye, where he would normally be with his guitar.
“It’s about that: your mind plays tricks on you, especially so soon after someone dies and you’re in the places where they always were. You just see them.”
Bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders adds: “My portion of the song, lyrically, is all about Brent, and for Brent. The bridge lyrics are two lines of pure gratitude towards Brent.”
Guitarist Bill Kelliher says: “We wanted to pick a song that sounds like Mastodon, and that has all the things in there, because it’s the first impression of what people are gonna hear. It speaks about things that have just happened and people passing. I could go deep but I don’t want to because a lot of that shit’s personal.”
Your Ghost Again is the follow-up to 2024’s Floods Of Triton, which Mastodon made in collaboration with fellow US metal heavyweights Lamb Of God. The new song is likely to appear on their upcoming and as-yet-unannounced ninth studio album, which has been completed.
Dailor told Blabbermouth last month that the next album was “a hard record to make” in light of Hinds’ exit in March and death in August, as well as the death of the drummer’s mother in February 2025.
“It was a very emotional time for us,” he said. “I lost my mum, we went through all this turmoil with Brent, and then he passed away. It’s been tough. It’s all in the music, it’s all in the songs, and I’m excited to release it and get it out there into the world because we’ve been sitting on it for a while.”
Hinds split from Mastodon after 25 years in the lineup. Although the departure was described as a mutual decision by the band in a statement, Hinds made a number of comments in the spring and summer which suggested it had been a less-than-amicable breakup. Via Instagram, he said he “won’t miss being in a shit band with horrible humans” and criticised past live performances by Dailor and Kelliher.
Hinds died at the age of 51 on August 20, after his Harley-Davidson collided with an SUV in Atlanta. Mastodon paid tribute to him during a show in Alaska on August 23.
“We loved him so, so, so very much,” Dailor told the live audience. “And we had the ups and downs of a 25-year relationship. You know what I mean? It’s not always perfect, it’s not always amazing, but we were brothers to the end. And we really loved each other and we made a lot, a lot of very beautiful music together. And I think that that’s gonna stand the test of time, evidenced by you people here tonight.”
Mastodon have played live with guitarist Nick Johnson since Hinds’ exit. Kelliher has previously hinted that Johnson was involved in the writing and recording of their upcoming album. The band are currently touring Europe and will take the stage at Download festival in Donington, UK on June 14.
