Brent Hinds, Lead Guitarist of Metal Band Mastodon, Dies in Motorcycle Crash

Music|Brent Hinds, Mastodon Guitarist, Dies in Motorcycle Crash

Brent Hinds, the former frontman and lead guitarist of the acclaimed Atlanta heavy metal band Mastodon, died late Wednesday in a motorcycle accident, the authorities said.

Mr. Hinds, 51, who appeared to have been riding a Harley-Davidson, was found unresponsive at an intersection less than two miles from downtown Atlanta at about 11:35 p.m., according to the Atlanta Police Department. Emergency medical workers pronounced him dead at the scene, the police said.

The other driver was a woman who was driving a BMW S.U.V. when she failed to yield while turning left, crashing into Mr. Hinds, according to the police.

An investigation into the accident is underway, the authorities said.

Mastodon, which formed in Atlanta in 2000, became one of the most musically and conceptually ambitious metal bands of the 21st century. The band was influenced by the slashing, violent guitars of Metallica and Slayer as well as the complex rhythmic patterns of jazz and progressive rock.

The band was hailed by critics as a leading light in its genre, with Rolling Stone calling it “America’s new kings of metal” in 2009.

Hinds, a founding member, was one of three vocalists in the group, and played lead guitar. He left the band in March under circumstances that remain unclear. In a statement, the band said it had “mutually decided to part ways” with Mr. Hinds, but in later statements Mr. Hinds said he had been kicked out.

The band’s second record, “Leviathan” (2004), was a concept album based on Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick.” Its lyrics, including “There’s magic in the water that attracts all men” and “This ivory leg is what propels me, harpoons thrust in the sky,” set Captain Ahab’s doomed and obsessive pursuit of an elusive white whale against serrated guitar riffs by Mr. Hinds and Bill Kelliher.

In an interview with The New York Times in 2006, when the band released its subsequent album, “Blood Mountain,” Mr. Hinds described the theme of “Leviathan” as “the struggle between man and music,” a metaphor that likened a metal band struggling on tour to sailors on an endless quest at sea.