Mastodon has wrapped their ninth studio album — and it's the first without founding guitarist Brent Hinds, who left the band in March 2025 before his tragic death in a motorcycle accident five months later *. The new record features touring guitarist Nick Johnston and contains zero material from Hinds, who had already stopped showing up to the practice space before his departure *. Drummer Brann Dailor confirmed the album is finished and will drop sometime in 2026, marking the band's first LP in five years since *Hushed and Grim* †.
The recording process was brutal for the band on multiple levels. Dailor described it as emotionally difficult, compounded by the death of his own mother during the album's creation *†. Meanwhile, the material itself represents roughly two years of work, all developed after Hinds had become increasingly difficult to engage with band activities *†. According to Duane Trucks, Hinds had an unreleased solo album in the vault before his death *.
Mastodon isn't wasting time getting back on the road — they've got European tour dates lined up for summer 2026 and festival slots at Louder Than Life in Louisville and Sick New World in Fort Worth locked in for fall *†. No official release date yet, but the band's clearly ready to move forward with this new chapter, however heavy the circumstances that brought it about.