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The Latest Breaking News from Bill Kelliher

“She was looking at her pill bottles. I knew she was going to die so I was like, ‘Put it down. Live right now’”: Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher wrote songs for Emperor Of Sand at his mum’s deathbed

A cancer tragedy and other real-life dramas inspired Mastodon’s seventh album Emperor Of Sand, which they believe was 17 years in the making

Metal Hammer

Brent Hinds plays first show since leaving Mastodon – and he has plenty more lined up

Since departing the metal giants after 25 years, Hinds has already taken to the stage with his “psychobilly surf” outfit – and three of his bands will play the same show in April

Guitar World

“Bill, Troy and I were rocking it – I took a step back, only to clip my heel on a monitor wedge. I went ass-over-teakettle”: How Ben Eller went from Mastodon super-fan to filling in for Brent Hinds – and taking it all in his stride

Despite an embarrassing stage fall and frustrating in-ear monitor problems, the YouTuber had a blast alongside his buddy Bill Kelliher. But he can’t discuss what might happen next…

Guitar World

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“My lead skills are decent enough – but whoever we get is going to be light years ahead of me”: Brent Hinds’ exit left Mastodon at a crossroads. But for Bill Kelliher, it’s an opportunity for a fresh start with a new guitar wingman

After 25 years, the metal heroes are without a lead guitarist. In his first interview since the split, Kelliher reveals what went down – and what he’s looking for from a new six-string partner in crime

Guitar World

“I went into this looking at it as one of the coolest things I could ever be part of, but knowing the backlash could be brutal”: Ben Eller was wary of the reaction he’d get for stepping in for Brent Hinds in Mastodon – but that didn’t stop him saying yes

The Youtuber and Mastodon mega-fan stepped in at the last minute for the band’s Tool Live in the Sand set, even if it risked dividing the fanbase

Guitar World

“I’m as serious as a heart attack”: Mastodon are looking for their next guitar player – and they have a very specific list of requirements

Longtime guitarist Brent Hinds left the sludge/prog metal favourites earlier this month

Metal Hammer

“I’m as serious as a heart attack with Mastodon. I’m not ready to give it up yet. So, we’re going to keep looking”: Bill Kelliher is searching far and wide for Mastodon's next guitarist – here's what the band are looking for

Esteemed YouTuber and Mastodon mega-fan Ben Eller was drafted in last minute following Brent Hinds' surprise exit, but the search for a permanent successor is far from over

Guitar World

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Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher explains Brent Hinds exit: “Like a marriage, sometimes people grow apart, and they get interested in other things”

Hinds parted ways with the pioneering progressive/sludge metal act last week, ending his 25 years of service

Metal Hammer

“It’s amazing that we made it 25 years with the four of us”: Bill Kelliher opens up on Brent Hinds’ surprise Mastodon departure

News of Hinds’ shock exit was shared just days before the band’s set at the Tool in the Sand festival

Guitar World

“Can you learn 17 Mastodon songs immediately? Please give some love, stage right, say hello to Mr Ben Eller”: YouTuber makes Mastodon live debut following Brent Hinds’ shock exit – but what’s next for the prog-metal behemoths?

Hinds is out. Eller is in for now. Brann Dailor has a black eye. Palace intrigue notwithstanding, “all 2025 touring plans will remain intact,” says the band

MusicRadar

“Can you learn 17 Mastodon songs immediately?” Mastodon recruit YouTuber for first show following Brent Hinds’ shock departure

The band mutually parted ways with their founding guitarist just days before they were due to play at the Tool in the Sand festival – and it seems the YouTuber wasn’t given much time to learn the material

Guitar World

“We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared, and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors”: Mastodon part ways with Brent Hinds

Hinds co-founded the band with guitarist Bill Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders, and drummer Brann Dailor in 2000

Guitar World

"After 25 monumental years together, Mastodon and Brent Hinds have mutually decided to part ways." Mastodon announce shock departure of guitarist Brent Hinds

By mutual consent, Brent Hinds leaves Mastodon

Metal Hammer

“Death happens to everyone and if it hasn’t happened yet it’s going to happen. So what better way to deal with it?”: How Mastodon found light in darkness with The Hunter

With 2011’s The Hunter, Mastodon ditched the concepts and came up with something different

Metal Hammer

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Guitar World

“Modeling is just not fun. It doesn’t give you any sort of feeling. You gotta shake the pant legs and feel that air”: Dave Friedman, who’s built amps for Jerry Cantrell, Steve Stevens, and Chris Shiflett, is not ready to hop off the tube train

The amp guru looks back on a career of modding Marshalls, building rigs for Eddie Van Halen, and developing his most simple product ever – and looks forward to the future of NAMM and boutique tech

Metal Hammer

Mastodon's Bill Kelliher says bands are still trying to recover from "irreparable damage" to touring business

Mastodon man gives brutally honest insight into why touring is so much harder now and why merch got so expensive

Metal Hammer

"We were a bunch of dirty, stinky pirates leaving our families behind." How Mastodon reinvented themselves - and modern metal - on sludge-prog masterpiece Leviathan

Mastodon were already an underground sludge metal sensation in the early 2000s, but Leviathan turned them into a breakout success

Metal Hammer

“It’s dangerous when you’re a kid shooting up drugs. Me and two other guys made it out alive. The others are dead or in prison”: How Mastodon transcended tragedy and trauma to make Crack The Skye

The story of Mastodon’s 2009 prog metal masterpiece, Crack The Skye

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Metal Hammer

“Putting out a concept album about Moby-Dick could be career suicide”: Mastodon explain why Leviathan is so obsessed with the white whale

Mastodon explain why 2004 classic Leviathan is so fascinated with Herman Melville’s classic novel in a new interview

Guitar World

“My mom would still be bugging me, like, ‘You need to go to college and get a real job.’ I’m in the van, getting baloney sandwiches on 100 bucks a night. And I’m 30!” Bill Kelliher and Mark Morton on how Leviathan and Ashes of the Wake changed everything

With two classic albums, both released on the same day, Lamb of God and Mastodon's fates have long been connected and now they're touring together, Kelliher and Morton reflect on a turning point for both bands

Metal Hammer

“I don’t mess with mescaline any more. I did enough acid back in the day”: how Mastodon made a psychedelic prog metal masterpiece with Blood Mountain

Mastodon’s third album Blood Mountain saw them going from underground favourites to metal’s brain-frying new heroes

Louder

“We used to think, ‘Oh, there’s not enough craziness in this song; we need to add some stuff’ – but we learned that no, we don’t”: How Mastodon matured with Once More ‘Round The Sun

Sixth album was the moment they took stock of their previous achievements as they faced highest expectations to date

MusicRadar

"If we moved on with another concept album about something super-crazy and psychedelic and ridiculous, and very hard to wrap your head around, it was going to do my head in": How Mastodon changed approach on Curl Of The Burl and The Hunter

"I’d rather write some songs, have a good time, play some kick-ass jams, drink some wine, have some weed… party, have a good time"

Guitar World

“It was funny when I first met James Hetfield. I was like, ‘Thank you for teaching me how to play guitar. You paved the way for me’”: Mastodon's Bill Kelliher on how meeting his guitar heroes pushed him to improve his craft

Mastodon's Bill Kelliher also credits Slayer's Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman for changing his previously nonchalant attitude to warming up before a show

Metal Hammer

“I feel like your spirit lives on in another reality. I feel like it gets transferred to another dimension”: how Mastodon transcended death and tragedy to make Emperor Of Sand

The story of Mastodon’s 2017 album Emperor Of Sand, a yell of defiance in the face of death

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