West End Motel

Venturing beyond prog metal territory, West End Motel serves as the vehicle through which Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds investigates early rock & roll textures in a project that sheds some weight without losing its ominous character. Sharing ground with the "doom-wop" outfit Mister Heavenly, the group presents a classic sound whose dark underbelly leaves listeners unsettled. Hinds first introduced the band via the 2011 split Brent Hinds Presents: Fiend Without a Face & West End Motel, a double EP that also featured his metal-rockabilly hybrid Fiend Without a Face. Warner issued the ensemble’s full-length debut, Only Time Can Tell, in the fall of 2012.