On Sunday, March 9, Mastodon played their first show since Hinds’ departure, with Youtuber Ben Eller filling in. Afterwards, Eller took to Instagram to express his gratitude at playing the gig, which took place at Tool’s Live In The Sand festival in the Dominican Republic.

Coming off the heels of Mastodon’s recent TOOL Live in the Sand performance — the group's first show since splitting with co-founding guitarist Brent Hinds — remaining six-stringer Bill Kelliher has spoken on the surprise departure of his now-former bandmate,

During a recent interview with Guitar World, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher didn’t explain the whole “why” thing, he looked back on the quarter century of the band’s time with Hinds. But ultimately, he said it was time for the change to happen.

Bill Kelliher has opened up on Brent Hinds' surprise departure from Mastodon, after the band's co-founding guitarist announced he would be stepping away from the metal stalwarts after 25 years of service.

"We're deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we've shared," the band announced Friday.

Brent Hinds, lead guitarist and vocalist for the acclaimed modern metal outfit Mastodon has parted ways with the band.

Mastodon sure didn’t make it easy on Eller, as the band dusted off several rarities last night that hadn’t been played live in years. Among them: the first “All the Heavy Lifting” since 2015, the first “Tread Lightly” since 2016 and the first performances of “Ember City” and “Ghost of Karelia” since 2019.

Mastodon performed their first show without Brent Hinds’ at TOOL’s Live In The Sand Festival, where they revealed youtube guitarist Ben Eller as Hinds’ replacement.