The prestigious Hellfest Open Air festival in Clisson, France, has a celebrated tradition of paying homage to heavy metal’s fallen icons. While this year’s edition of the festival recently made headlines for unveiling a massive statue dedicated to the legendary Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness is not the only musical luminary receiving a tribute on the grounds.
Attendees at the 2026 event were moved to find an ornate, stained glass-styled memorial honoring the life of late Mastodon guitarist and vocalist Brent Hinds. The striking installation was recently showcased by his former bandmate, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher.
Known throughout the industry as a true, free-spirited rock and roller, Brent Hinds tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident on August 20, 2025, at the age of 51. According to police reports, he was traveling between 63 and 68 mph when his motorcycle collided with a BMW SUV. He suffered serious injuries to his head, arms and torso and later died at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Beyond his foundational, decades-long tenure defining the sound of Mastodon, the virtuosic musician also left his creative mark through prominent side projects like Fiend Without A Face, West End Motel, and the supergroup Giraffe Tongue Orchestra.
Although Brent Hinds and the remaining members of Mastodon went through a bitter split just months before his untimely passing, the band recently honored his enduring legacy and their shared history with the release of their emotional new single, “Your Ghost Again“.
Speaking about the song’s origins, drummer and vocalist Brann Dailor revealed that memories of Hinds were impossible to escape while working in the studio.
“’Your Ghost Again‘ is about being in those familiar places you used to be with people, which for us is in the studio,” said Dailor. “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.”
The song’s lyrical themes extend beyond grief and remembrance. Bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders explained that his lyrics were written directly for his longtime bandmate, reflecting on the experiences they shared throughout their career.
“My portion of the song, lyrically, is all about Brent, and for Brent. The bridge lyrics are two lines of pure gratitude towards Brent. It’s all the gifts from you, now you can take them back where you must go, meaning you came into my life, you exposed me to things that blew my mind, together we conquered thousands of stages around the world, had magical moments that we can never repeat again, but all the beauty that you brought it still remains, always will, and it’s just a line of gratitude because that’s important that we include Brent.”
For guitarist Bill Kelliher, “Your Ghost Again” was the obvious choice to introduce this new chapter of Mastodon. He noted that the song captures the band’s signature sound while also addressing the personal events that have shaped the group’s recent journey.
“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 s**t’s personal.”
Mastodon debuted “Your Ghost Again“ on June 3 during a performance in Prague, Czech Republic.
Before introducing the track to the Prague audience, Troy Sanders took a moment to address the crowd and dedicate the performance to his late bandmate.
“This is the first song in our entire career that wasn’t worked on with our friend Brent — he passed away last year, and he is no longer with us. So we’d like to do a new song for you guys and we’d like to dedicate it to Brent because we miss him and we love him also.”
