With proclivities towards heavy music, at times, I find myself boiling down (or perhaps 'melting' down) heavy metal's elite in terms of decade-long reigns. The genre was invented in the 70's by Black Sabbath. Metallica took it over in the 80's, the 90's belonged to Pantera, and to me, the first decade in the new millenium belonged to Mastodon.
Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye were these mega prog metal journey's that challenged the listener while rocking hard. Masto was powered by the twin guitar attack of a grounded Bill Keliher and a volatile Brent Hinds. Brent brought ferocity, creativity and a degree of instability that kept his bands' music deep - album after album. A guitar player's guitar player and a true wild man.
Like the legendary Duane Allman over 53 years ago, Brent Hinds was killed in a motorcycle accident in the state of Georgia on August 20th, 2025
RIP Dirty B. Hinds
