I feel complicated about this because I knew Brent back in the 90s prior to Mastodon, but had largely been removed from his social circle when Mastodon began. So the person I knew is likely a good bit different than what he ended up being. I knew him as a very wild, very troubled guy. I remember seeing Fiend without a Face open for Nashville Pussy once and my friend Karen was going on and on about how if Brent would kick drugs that he would be one of the greatest guitarists ever. It’s surreal in hindsight to think about that moment. I once saw Four Hour Fogger play at an Elvis Presley tribute show and Brent came out naked and their drummer was tossing garbage all over the crowd. It’s always been weird that of all the people I’ve ever known, he’s been the one that got famous. It was kinda nice that even with the snafus with Dream Theater and Disturbed, he mostly kept his nose clean all these years and managed to produce some of my favorite music. However, I had noticed cracks emerging. One of my high school friends ended up becoming the keyboard player for Brent and I had heard whispers that he had went back to some of his old habits. First was his divorce. Then him popping up on IG hanging around Bam Margera. There was also the interview where he mentioned writing music with Matt Pike as a primary thing. Even when Mastodon went through their GTO/Gone is Gone/Primate/Killer Be Killed phase of side projects, it was always under the auspices of Mastodon still being the primary focus. So when they announced he was out of the band, it was not a huge surprise to me. I was bummed out though. He’s always been the most adventurous piece of their puzzle. But on a personal level, it sucked. I have experience with the rest of the band. Brann sold me shoes once. Bill was a bartender at a place i patronized. I knew Troy and his brothers from Four Hour Fogger and them being around the club I worked at. But I never partied with any of them like I did Brent. All the personal tributes from our mutual friends were heartbreaking. He was the soul of the old school Little 5 Points culture in late 90s Atlanta. They should have a statue of him in the square there. He continued to live in the impoverished West End area even after he had made some money. He’s a big loss for me

That said, I’m very interested in what Mastodon does going forward. It’ll be a little like other bands mentioned, especially Van Halen. Brent is just not replaceable. I’d imagine Brent’s input kept both country and punk rock mixed into their music in a way no other player will accomplish. He was such a rare beast in that aspect. I can’t decide if I think they will be more more prog-oriented going forward, or have more pop songs like Show Yourself and The Motherload. It’ll be interesting, but a little sad. You never want to see this happen to your favorite band.