MASTODON shares music video for 'In The Ruins'
14-06-2026
Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON have released the official music video for the song “In The Ruins”. The track is taken from the band’s new album, “Marrow Deep”, which will arrive on August 28 via Loma Vista Recordings. The LP marks MASTODON‘s first full-length effort without founding guitarist/singer Brent Hinds, who was fired from the band in March 2025 and died five months later in a motorcycle accident.
Watch “In The Ruins” below.
“In The Ruins” was inspired by the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene and the personal havoc it wreaked upon MASTODON bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders and his family. The catastrophic storm severely flooded their home and destroyed personal belongings, leading to a nearly two-year period of displacement that coincided with the whole band navigating the profound grief of the passings of founding member Brent Hinds and drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor‘s mother Michele Lawrence, ultimately channeling the loss into a powerful declaration of resilience and catharsis. The song comes paired with a vibrant video by animation and VFX studio Hey Beautiful Jerk that depicts a fever dream journey by a single-eyed creature named Frank across flooded and ruined landscapes that serves as a metaphor for the song’s lyrics.
MASTODON commented: “‘In The Ruins’ is inspired by the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene and the havoc it wreaked upon Troy and his family. The catastrophic storm severely flooded their home and destroyed personal belongings, leading to a nearly two year period of displacement that coincided with the whole band navigating the passings of Brent and Brann‘s mother Michele. Yup, it’s another deep one, but ultimately it’s us channeling the loss into a powerful declaration of resilience and catharsis. We are lucky we have each other, and we are lucky we have you, our fans!
“We collaborated with animation wizards and long-time friends Hey Beautiful Jerk for this visual. We absolutely love it, here is some more about how it came about!”
Hey Beautiful Jerk explained: “The initial inspiration for Frank and the concept for ‘In The Ruins’ came to me when I was in the ER for 10 hours with the worst eye infection of my life. The pain was so bad it felt like my eye was revolting and wanted to escape my head. I had just talked to Brann about the meaning of the song and how it was inspired by his and Troy‘s recent losses. The expression ‘picking up the pieces’ came to me and I sketched a very rough version of Frank on my phone, capturing the idea as fast as I could before my eye wanted to escape my face once again.”
Watch the previously released “Your Ghost Again” (an hommage to Brent Hinds) below.
“Your Ghost Again” is the first piece of new MASTODON music to be released since the death of co-founding guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, who departed MASTODON in March 2025. Hinds passed away in a motorcycle accident five months later. He was replaced by touring guitarist Nick Johnston, who reportedly will appear on the new studio LP.
In a video accompanying the announcement of the new single, the MASTODON members said the song was a tribute to their former bandmate.
“‘Your Ghost Again’ is about when you lose somebody that’s close to you that you existed with for most of your life,” MASTODON drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor said. “When we were in the studio recording, I kept seeing Brent. I’d see him on my right holding the guitar because that’s where he’d usually be. It’s the same with my mom: I keep seeing her. I was just singing about what I was seeing, and I was seeing ghosts.
Dailor went on to say that “Your Ghost Again” is “about being in those familiar places you used to be with people, which for us is in the studio. I just kept seeing [Brent] 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.”
“My portion of the song, lyrically, is all about Brent, and for Brent,” added MASTODON bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders. “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.”
MASTODON guitarist/vocalist Bill Kelliher commented: “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.”
Regarding the upcoming MASTODON LP, which will also feature keyboardist João Nogueira, Brann said: “Hopefully this album helps everybody. Hopefully they can find some piece of it that speaks to them about it. I know Brent‘s not there and it’s weird and it’s hard, and some people might be like, ‘Well I don’t wanna listen to it because Brent‘s not there and I’m hurting about that’, but we are too. Big time.”
Brann continued: “It means a lot to me, and I hope that’s able to translate to our fans and people who are grieving, too. I understand that, because we never really addressed it. We just couldn’t. And to the fans I’m just sorry that I wasn’t able to be more for them when that happened, because I couldn’t. For myself, I’m still unpacking it.”
Hinds was reportedly riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle late Wednesday (August 20) when he collided with an SUV at the intersection of Memorial Drive SE and Boulevard SE, less than two miles from downtown Atlanta, according to Atlanta police.
Brent was found unresponsive by officers who responded to the crash around 11:35 p.m. and was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical workers.
Police said a woman driving a BMW SUV was making a left turn when she failed to yield and struck the motorcycle, which was headed west on Boulevard. The woman remained at the scene and spoke with investigators.
MASTODON has since issued the following statement: “We are in a state of unfathomable sadness and grief… last night Brent Hinds passed away as a result of a tragic accident. We are heartbroken, shocked, and still trying to process the loss of this creative force with whom we’ve shared so many triumphs, milestones, and the creation of music that has touched the hearts of so many. Our hearts are with Brent‘s family, friends, and fans. At this time, we please ask that you respect everyone’s privacy during this difficult time. RIP Brent.”
An incident report from the Atlanta Police Department states that officers responded to an accident at the intersection of Memorial Dr. SE and Boulevard SE at approximately 11:35 p.m. “Upon arrival, officers located an unresponsive male who was involved in the collision,” the police said. “The male appeared to be operating a Harley Davidson during the time of collision. Medical personnel pronounced the male deceased. The other driver involved, a female who occupied a BMW SUV remained on scene. The APD Accident Investigations Unit responded to the scene to determine the circumstances. Preliminary investigation indicates the male was traveling West on Boulevard. The female operating the BMW SUV failed to yield while turning left and collided into the male victim who was operating the Harley Davidson. The investigation remains active at this time.”
Rumors of Hinds‘s death first began circulating on Reddit after TOOL guitarist Adam Jones posted an image of Brent early Thursday (August 21) as an Instagram Story.
In March, MASTODON revealed that the band and Hinds had “mutually decided to part ways” after “25 monumental years together.”
Two months ago Brent Hinds has blasted his former bandmates as a “shit” group “with horrible humans”.
Hinds, who exited MASTODON in March, made his comments in a social media post earlier today (Wednesday, June 25).
After MASTODON shared the artwork of the band’s 2014 album “Once More ‘Round The Sun” to commemorate the LP’s 11th anniversary, one fan chimed in: “‘Halloween’ is definitely my #1 track on this record. Definitely gonna miss B. Hinds though”. Within minutes, Brent himself replied below MASTODON‘s original post, writing via his verified Instagram account: “I want miss being in a shit band with horrible humans”.
Since 2000, Hinds had served as lead guitarist and vocalist for MASTODON, alongside bassist/singer Troy Sanders, drummer Brann Dailor, and guitarist Bill Kelliher.
MASTODON announced Brent‘s departure from the band on March 7, writing in a private Facebook statement: “Friends and Fans, After 25 monumental years together, MASTODON and Brent Hinds have mutually decided to part ways.
MASTODON and LAMB OF GOD‘s collaborative single called “Floods Of Triton” was released in September 2024. The track, which was recorded prior to the launch of the two bands’ “Ashes Of Leviathan” summer 2024 tour, was made available via Loma Vista Recordings.
Stream “FLOODS OF TRITON” AT THIS LOCATION.
This momentous collaboration also serves as a bookend for the bands’ highly successful summer tour, a celebration of two landmark albums that charted a path that countless heavy bands have followed in the intervening years. Mastodon’s Leviathan and Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake not only marked critical turning points in each band’s career but also left an indelible influence on the evolution of the genre. While “Floods Of Triton” echoes the innovation and raw energy of these albums, it also speaks to their persistent hunger for creativity and evolution and marks the first step in Mastodon’s next chapter.
“Floods of Triton” is out now on Loma Vista Recordings.
“Floods Of Triton” was recorded at MASTODON‘s own West End Sound in Atlanta and was produced by MASTODON and Tyler Bates, highly regarded in his own right for his scores for “Guardians Of The Galaxy”, “John Wick”, “MaXXXine” and more.
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