Mastodon drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor has offered a pointed—yet brief—reply to former bandmate Brent Hinds, who once again took aim at the progressive metal band in a recent social media post.
Hinds, who was dismissed from Mastodon earlier this year after more than 25 years, has repeatedly criticized the group online since his departure. The split was officially confirmed in March 2025, but neither side has gone into detail about the reasons behind it.
Last week, Hinds wrote:
“My guitar sounds great, but Troy and prawn [an apparent nickname for Brann] sound absolutely horrible ..they are way out of key ..embarrassing and they kicked me out of the band for embarrassing them for being who I am ..but what about who they are ? They are two people that can’t sing..together live or anywhere else in the world ..everything they try to sing in the studio is manipulated by autotune because they’re incapable of singing in key..fuck these guys ..only I know who they really are ..they are the biggest fans of them self’s .. I’ve never seen anyone in my life look in the mirror more than Troy Sanders. He thinks he’s God’s gift to anything. I’ve never met three people that were so full of themselves. It’s disgusting.”
Yesterday (August 11th), Dailor posted a short Instagram story in response, sharing live performance footage of himself singing with the caption: “sounds in key to me”. He followed it up with:
“Sounds in key to me – best singing drummer ever @creamale @mastodonrocks.”
While Hinds has confirmed he was fired, the exact circumstances of his departure remain undisclosed.
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Love you Brann, but Phil Collins takes that crown my guy.
Cory Hyman facts
Cory Hyman somebody else put that tag on, Brann just reposted it
Cory Hyman really? What makes PC a great singer? Nothing I’ve heard
John Gottselig his singing
John Gottselig he has a nice vocal tone to listen to?
John Gottselig Well John, you may want to hear these songs he sings. Listen to No Reply at All. You Might Recall. For Absent Friends. The Lady Lies. One For the Vine. Dance on a Volcano. Burning Rope. Man on the Corner. Heathaze. Cul De Sac. Me and Sarah Jane. Entangled. All in a Mouse’s Night. Mad Man Moon. Like It or Not. I Don’t Care Anymore. A lot of folks put their presumptions to the front without knowing the whole deal.
Cory Hyman I’d say Levon Helm
Cory Hyman Brann can out drum and out sing Phil ang day! Soft rock and Metal, two different genres.
Kevin DelCol
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Cory Hyman okay, and? This merits nothing in regards to who’s better. It is my own opinion as well as many others, who can correctly see the different and look past the legend Phil. Brann is just way better. Sorry.
Kevin DelCol just saying only heard Land of Confusion and that fuckin’ Tarzan song. 😆
Cory Hyman You should check out Phil in the 70s, early 80s. Insane feel. Able to make the craziest grooves swing. Check out the Genesis albums Selling England by the Pound, Wind and Wuthering, And Then There Were Three, Duke, Abacab. Live albums Seconds Out and Three Sides Live (The In the Cage medley where Cinema Show comes in in 7/8). It’s all about the feel man.
Click bait
Richard Jones sorry couldn’t fit everything in the headline for you
The Mosh Network well it’s Time to do some real jounalism maybe?
Diega hold on I’ll call Brent
The Mosh Network
Mastons Brann Dailor responds to Brent Hinds with “Sounds in key to me – best singing drummer ever @creamale @mastodonrocks.”
Click the link *insert link here* for the full story.
Settle it in the octagon or stfu .
Shawn Patrick Stephenson when it first happened did you see Brann’s blackeye? Something tells me he may not be able to defend himself. He better be glad the drums don’t hit back lol.
Phillip Bunch right ✅️ 🤣
The times I’ve seen Mastodon live Brent could barely sing his parts and definitely not his screams. Those in glass houses…..
He’s also been recorded going off on guitar techs and what not. It’s sad he’s just embarrassing himself even more. I love me some Dirty B. Hinds but hopefully he gets the help he clearly needs.
Keep on rocking in the free world MastoDONG
Kody Harn Agreed. It’s sad seeing him spiraling like this and I hope he gets help
Much easier to ignore the douche and let him fade into obscurity.
Brent sounds like a bitter bitch
MEHstodon.
Cerrin Hendricks Mid-Stadon
Robert Gregory midstarobgreg
Dustin Cohle BobGreg was my nick name in college
Dustin Cohle 2 of matsodon’s members grew up a town next to me in Rochester.
Robert Gregory why all the hate man?
Dustin Cohle I liked their early stuff. Leviathan is a classic!
Robert Gregory I dig that, last album was different perhaps, but sultan, around the sun, and crack were solid. Give me one band of late which hits harder.
Dustin Cohle Dillinger Escape Plan
Robert Gregory rivers of nihil
Cerrin Hendricks fr lmao
Roberto Farrera haha, you pry preferred Creed. Busta
Cerrin Hendricks they keep playing shows with bands i like and every time i walk out on them. Not impressed whatsoever
Christoph Notpit you pry loved coheed and cambria then ay?
Christoph Notpit I actually dig them but I have a terrible taste in music hahaha
Cerrin Hendricks totally
Josh Blythe who u like chief?
Cerrin Hendricks total bullshit. Who you listen too??
Dustin Cohle Mastadon sucks balls
Neale Shaffer wrong
Dustin Cohle I listen to Mastodon lol
Cerrin Hendricks EXCUSE me hater pahtna?
Arianna Thompson just messing around I listen to them haha
Cerrin Hendricks is that you, brent?
I could not possibly give fewer fucks about this but it persists in overwhelming my feeds for some stupid reason.
Massivedong
John Prophet yea you are
Dustin Cohle I know you are, but what am I?
His guitar solos disrupted every song
Clara Tgtoff
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Just wait kids, in 12-15 years they will get back together for a tour, you will get some new drug you’ve never heard of from your kid’s friend’s friend and have the night of your life.
Instagram wars, preferred Vince v axl 😂
I bet Mastadon just discovered have that zaz they use to have on leviathan. The next thing they put out I’ll listen to just to see if it improved, or they fall short. 
Phillip Bunch they’ve fallen short with everything since “The Hunter.”
David Jones I feel the complete opposite, they’ve lost a lot of their flair and uniqueness from that record on, super sterilized
David Jones bullshit lol
Wade Wiseman so how is that any different from what I said?
David Jones sorry I misread it, but I’m keeping the comment of because sometimes people just make mistakes and I want this comment to be a reminder of that 
Wade Wiseman ok?
David Jones OK 🙂
Phillip Bunch it’ll be better than your spelling I’m sure
Dane Walters did voice dictation misspell something? That’s literally the reason I use it lmmfao. At least I’m not a drummer that hangs out with musicians.
Love this band. Really sad to see this behavior from men who made music for the majority of their lives while the rest of us sit in traffic trying to get to $18-20/hr jobs….
Drew Trudeau – You think the guys in Mastodon are rich?
Mads Sanden nope. Didnt say that. But they get to play music for living. That is a blessing unto itself.
Drew Trudeau – For a lot of musicians it’s mainly just a job and even for a lot of well-known musicians, it’s still not a very well-paying job and it’s also physically and mentally demanding.
Have you ever made a living from playing music?
Mads Sanden yessir. 10 years out of high school in a nu-metal band from 95-05. Recorded ASCAP member. Still get tiny teeny royalty checks lol and my music is still available for download!!
Mads Sanden brother I wish I was still doing it. But we just couldnt stay with it, and life, and kids called me elsewhere….
Drew Trudeau – Exactly, that’s my point – Playing music professionally is almost all consuming, even if you’re not so lucky that it sets you up for life, but then there won’t really be space for anything else either – it’s all about sacrifices, one way or the other.
Mads Sanden well, Id still rather struggle playing music than what I do. Im just better at this….
Mads Sanden trust me they they do work hard for the money but knowing them personally
They are set for years even B with royalties.
But I will say they are very humble and have always come out for community/people special fundraisers.
……autotune also works on the live stage. Mastodon is not the only artist that uses vocal correction live. Could be autotune, compression or any other processor that perfects vocals live. That’s neither here nor there about their worthiness to write and create songs people obviously enjoy.
The issue is “why was he fired?”. His online presence and childish behavior of mocking his old band mates tells us enough about why he was fired.
Matthew Sharon right? Even if he’s right about the singing issues, his behavior about this whole thing is a massive red flag.
Matthew Sharon Compression does NOT perfect vocals. It is often referred to as a singer’s best friend but it doesn’t change pitch or bend notes.
It just evens out the dynamic range. It’s especially useful when a singer uses a lot of different gain techniques. It basically turns up the quiet stuff and reigns back the loud stuff.
It’s been a commonly used vocal tool for decades.
I’ve always liked this band. No matter the drama… I still listen to them regularly
Adam William Parkey you and me both
Adam William Parkey same
I mean that was a classy response, and I know he knows he’s not the best singing drummer ever he’s just making the point he’s can do what Brent is saying he can’t. I really think someone needs to take Brent’s phone away when he drinks, these IG comments really just hurt him no one else.
Joshua Karpowich This is just conjecture, but it seems pretty clear based on this, and comments made by Hinds’ bandmates in past interviews that who he is when he drinks is precisely what got him fired from the band.
Mastodon blows
Paul Luszczewski pretty sure your mom blows alot more fruitcake
Oh snap?!?!?!!
Who gives a shit what Brent Hinds has to say? Hes an unapologetic racist.
Sean Paul Mahaffey what did he say or do that was racist? Just curious
Clinton Poling several times throughout their career the band had to make statements about his loud mouth. And apologize for him. They finally got tired of it, I assume.
Sean Paul Mahaffey That makes him a racist?!?
Red Gravy Jr. I mean if he says racist shit…Google is your friend . Do some research
Red Gravy Jr. The shit he said makes him racist. Especially because he never apologized. And the band had to apologize on his behalf to protect their image. Finally they got tired of it and kicked him out. They are better off without him. Bill Kelliher writes all the riffs anyway.
Jeremy Slaven I googled it and can’t really find anything.
Sean Paul Mahaffey what did he say though? Would like to know cuz I can’t find anything on the google
To be fair, ive seen mastodon live in all of their “phases” including recently with Nick….
And many of the shows prior to about 2023 brann was singing out of key almost constantly.
Brent isn’t wrong, his live vocals could be terrible.
Recently though, he is sounding perfect live, which either means he’s taking vocal coaching, or some “digital manipulation” is happening.
Not a bad thing, just something to point out.
Nathan Fiss wtf does it matter. dude is playing drums. I could care less what Brann does to make VOX sound better. As much as I like Brent’s playing, Dude is just a bitter little bitch…
Nathan Fiss digital manipulation would be an awful thing
Wayne Mitchell is it awful to sound better live no matter what?… concert tickets ain’t cheap, and I wanna hear a good show. No joke, Branns live vocals were baaaaad, and not in a good way like Brent’s. Troy’s are usually fine, but he’s ruined his screaming voice over time so that’s pretty much over.
Nathan Fiss I know it’s gotten alot better, but you can generally tell when the vocals are manipulated live.
Nathan Fiss Brent was also a habitual drunk, late to most studio sessions and just got in the band cause he plays a rowdy guitar. Also are we really gonna judge the rest on the bands vocals based off of Brent’s 😂, have we forgotten the time he sounded like a Disney character cause of an infection….
Andy Davis being a drunk doesn’t make you wrong…. And I’ve heard Brent’s vocals live, many times. They were much better than Branns vocals live.
Nathan Fiss or he’s not as stressed. I almost lost my singing voice due to stress one time. I had also developed psoriasis as well. Very stressful time.
There are a ton of factors that affect your performance singing live, the foremost being your monitoring. If you can’t hear yourself clearly with respect to the music, you’ll be out of key. I’m sure if given a good setting with good monitoring Brann kills it.
Jeff Lane as a non musician this is confusing. It’s not jazz, there notes are written down and the key is chosen before they play. Is it all relative? Can’t one just sing the key / notes as written?
Mike Bennewitz instrument or genre is irrelevant, not being able to hear yourself is a challenge always.
When you read about or talk to high level musicians, they call out that staying in tune or playing at the appropriate volumes involves a lot of micro adjustments. Wind instruments can have specific notes that are just sharp/flat on that particular instrument. Classical string instruments don’t have frets and landing perfectly in tune is almost impossible. Even guitars with frets can have certain spots that are prone to being out of tune from instrument to instrument. A great rock n roll example of this is where Richard Fortus talks about how him and Slash use their volume and tone knobs aggressively on-stage to fine tune their sound note to note (I think he called it ‘hitting the sweet spot of tone’). The only way you can do that is if you can hear what you’re playing.
Skilled musicians account for this by being able to listen and adjust. So, for something like vocals, that don’t have any ‘fingering’, ‘position’, etc, not being able to hear is absolutely terrible to staying in tune/key.
Secondly, I’d wager most metal singers don’t come from a classically trained singing background. Plus stage volume is intense. If they don’t have good in-ear monitors going, it’ll be even harder for them to hit the right notes.
Hope that helps.
Matt Plut thanks!
Mike Bennewitz of course! Thanks for bearing with my free form mental vomit!
So sad
Edo Favari and so immature
Mastodon is terrible lol
Andre Lynn lol, your a bitch ass hater. Pussy bou
Dustin Cohle Keyboard warrior. Oooooo. Nah, I like bands that actually make good music.
Mastodon SUCKS. Good riddance
Brann does seem like a tool.
Hey I like Mastodon anyways…old stuff and new stuff…this bitch fight going on….it’s ridiculous….but still…It won’t stop me from listening to them.🤘
brann is the man, brent seems like a total d-bag, despite his awesome guitar
No need to even answer such things. I want to think of the band I used to know. It’s all sad to see friends part ways. I hate money
Celebrity Death Match would have settled this whiney, petty and childish argument
Who cares! Just write a new album. You still have the one of the greatest riff lords and one of the greatest drummer on the planet
Idiotic… a member of the Backstreet Boys being fired would be similar to this. Hope he gets some help and hope you guys can get back in the studio soon to do your calling… don’t reply and don’t go back and forth, you are wasting your time. Make music and live well!
I heard they parted ways very peacefully and are still on great terms, this rage bait isn’t helping any one take it down
I put 20 years in this stupid band, and all I got was this dumb face tattoo.
Kevin Rowland the face tattoo is more related to him being a belligerent drunk, I think.
Angelo Frassato I was goin for amusing, not factual and your prob right.
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Hmmmm apparently it must’ve been a nice paycheck for him to stay this long and then bitch this hard when he stopped getting a paycheck
Probably having difficulty paying the bills with just Fiend Without a Face as the primary income.
Stop giving this clown press
It would be so sick if I never saw another thing about this.
I seriously think he either has some type of brain cancer or disease from when he got knocked down by Shavo Odadjian pre Crack the Skye era. Could also be alcohol related.
Kevin DelCol it wasn’t Shavo, dude
Germán Giri I heard it was the bass player of SOAD who slugged him into the ground. Which put him in a coma.
Kevin DelCol heroin abuse in his early life before he quit to join this band full time maybe. That shit impacts many people well after you stopped
Kevin DelCol https://loudwire.com/mastodon-troy-sanders-system-of-a-down-not-responsible-for-brent-hinds-hospitalization/
He never had Brent yell at him on the porch at the nick for no reason and it shows.
It’s better to burn out than to fade away. Especially like this.
Did I respond? I don’t remember
Ok guys, let’s grow up and take some constructive criticism and move on with life, and keep making great music….Please!
Drunk posting again, Brent?
J Solomon Martin sounds right, the new Dave Mustaine.
J Solomon Martin when they’re always drunk, I believe it’s just called posting.
J Solomon Martin Brent is the musician version of Dimitry Medvedev
There fighting like a bunch of Sally’s!!
Hinds complaining about anyone’s live vocals is hilarious
Marc Sabo totally.
Marc Sabo really! He and Brann were fire, Troy sucks ass
I’ve always thought Brent’s voice sounded the most auto tuned by far to be honest. It’s also hard to understand what he says when singing!!
So he could try and whine about their characters all he wants, but attacking their musicianship is pretty lame.
Fantastic soloist though. Shame he’s an egoic twat
we are reading all these stupid posts without really knowing the real reason why they kicked him out, instead of talking shit about the band he should tell us the truth, we can judge in case, though is their life not ours. We love their music and is enough.
It’s unfortunate they can’t settle this in any other way than by throwing shade online. Media picks this up and the “super fans” like Nathan Gale get all twisted out of shape.
Nobody gives a single fuck. Time to move on.
*Summons Reverend William Burk*
That saga is like YouTubers drama
The whole band is trash.
That’s not a response. Someone else shared a live video of Mastodon and commented that it “sounds in key.” Brann shared the video to his story. The only one talking shit is Brent.
Let’s not forget! These are middle aged men.
They’re pretty fucken cool huh
Mastodon vocals have always sounded pretty bad live. Troy brent and brahn. All 3 of um suck live with Troy sucking the least on his harsh vocals . Brent being gone and not writing his crazy fingerpicking metal stuff on the next album is gonna be wierd.
I love Brann’s vocals. Hinds has been a douche from the get-go. How he lasted 25 years is beyond me?
So Brann… took The High Road?
Scott Gara
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Brent had always seemed unbearable. Like wasn’t is within past 7 years he publicly said he hates metal and all his fan base?
“My guitar sounds great, but Troy and prawn [an apparent nickname for Brann] sound absolutely horrible ..they are way out of key”
So the bassist and apparently the drummer were out of key? Is he back on heroin wtf.
And for the record I think his brain got warped with that stupid face tattoo. Also this asshole went off on a tech in Philadelphia I think because he can’t hear worth a shit and his live vocals are garbage many times. Good riddance!
Enough from all of you with the family bitchin’. Just play some loud progressive rock n roll.
He has to live with that stupid tattoo the rest of his life
Megadeth is retiring and now B Hinds (haha) can take thr throne as King Bitch
To be fair their set at bloodstock was insane, the sound was unreal, seen them at festivals before and sounds got lost compared to their tour venue shows. First gig I’ve seen them without Brent and was one of the best I’ve seen 😬
Little metal band mad at other little metal band. Lmfao.
Can we say top 3 singing drummers? We all know Phil Collin’s is #1.
Billy Edelen you obviously haven’t heard Brutus!
She is infinitely better than Phil the tory
Alan Bradford can’t say that I have.
Billy Edelen enjoy, she’s phenomenal. This is her live and she delivers like this every time I’ve seen her
https://youtu.be/EBRYSlKDlws?si=MBe0WD5julPw3bqw
I wish Hinds would just shut up. He’s been at this for months now.
Mastodon can’t right a hook to save their lives
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1DD-XaCyR8U&pp=ygUaQnJlbnQgaGluZHMgc2Nob29sIG9mIHJvY2s%3D
Why be petty? Get over yourself. Whoever needs to hear that
What is this bullshit ‘article’? literally all it says is that dude 2 tweeted back to dude 1.
I love Brent as a musician but dissing his old band by saying they’re a “Shit band”, “Horrible humans” and all the other crap is just childish at best. I mean, They have put up with his BS for many years. I can speak facts but I’m sure they’ve had conversations about it with him in the past. Now he’s sore because they finally took action by firing him.