There are new songs.
There are surprise releases.
And then there are those recordings that suddenly carry far more emotional weight than anybody could ever have imagined when they were first put to tape.
CKY have released their new song “Beware of the Heartless”, and tucked inside the track is something incredibly special — a guitar solo recorded by the late Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds. 🎸❤️
For CKY fans, Mastodon fans and anyone who spent years admiring Hinds’ completely unmistakable approach to the guitar, this one hits differently.
Because this isn’t merely a guest spot.
It’s another opportunity to hear Brent play.
And bloody hell, mun… that means something.
🔥 “WHY WOULD I LEAVE THIS ON MY COMPUTER?”
The story behind the release makes the whole thing even more poignant.
CKY’s Chad I Ginsburg recently explained that the band had recorded “Beware of the Heartless” with Brent contributing a solo, but the track remained unreleased.
Following Hinds’ death, Ginsburg began thinking about the recording sitting on his computer.
His feeling was essentially simple: Brent had taken the time to play on the song, CKY loved him, and there was little point allowing that performance to remain hidden away forever.
Rather than keeping it locked on a hard drive gathering digital dust, CKY decided it belonged where music ultimately belongs:
With the fans.
And we’re very bloody glad they did.
🎸 BRENT HINDS AND CKY GO WAY BACK
“Beware of the Heartless” isn’t actually the first time the worlds of CKY and Brent Hinds have collided.
Long-time fans may immediately remember “Days of Self Destruction”, which appeared on CKY’s 2017 album The Phoenix.
That track also featured Hinds on guitar.
At the time, drummer Jess Margera described Brent as a friend of the band and revealed that “Days of Self Destruction” had been the first song CKY recorded at the legendary Rancho De La Luna studio.
Nearly a decade later, hearing Hinds ripping through another CKY recording gives “Beware of the Heartless” an entirely different emotional dimension.
This isn’t some random celebrity guest appearance bolted onto a song for publicity.
There’s history here.
There’s friendship here.
And now, sadly, there’s remembrance too.
❤️ A SONG RELEASED IN BRENT’S MEMORY
CKY have made it clear that the decision to finally release the track is connected directly to remembering their friend.
Speaking recently about the recording, Ginsburg explained:
“Brent played a solo on a song we recorded called ‘Beware of the Heartless’ and I thought, ‘Why would I leave this on my computer?’”
He went on to explain that Brent had taken the time to contribute to the track and that the band wanted to finally let the recording go and “give it to everyone.”
That’s the bit that gets you.
Music files can sit around for years.
Hard drives get filled with demos, alternate takes, unfinished songs, rehearsal recordings and ideas that somebody promises they’ll finish “next week”.
Then life happens.
Suddenly that little audio file isn’t merely another unfinished project.
It becomes a moment.
A memory.
A piece of somebody who isn’t here anymore.
And when that somebody is a guitarist as distinctive as Brent Hinds?
You release the bloody thing.
🤘 IT’S ANOTHER PIECE OF BRENT HINDS’ MUSICAL LEGACY
Hinds was never exactly the sort of guitarist you could mistake for somebody else.
His playing could be filthy, bluesy, psychedelic, frantic, beautiful and completely unhinged — occasionally within the same passage.
Alongside Mastodon, he helped create a catalogue that pushed heavy music into increasingly strange and adventurous territory.
But his creativity never existed exclusively inside Mastodon.
Over the years, Brent threw himself into numerous projects, collaborations and musical adventures.
That restless creativity is part of what made him such a fascinating musician.
So hearing another previously unreleased performance emerge carries an unavoidable sense of significance.
It’s one more little piece of Brent’s enormous musical footprint.
One more solo.
One more recording.
One more chance to crank the speakers and hear that guitar come screaming through.
🔥🎸
🇬🇧 CKY AND BRENT WERE SUPPOSED TO TOUR TOGETHER
There’s another particularly bittersweet detail behind the release.
CKY revealed that they had been due to finally hit the UK together with Hinds’ Fiend Without a Face.
It was something both camps had apparently been looking forward to.
Sadly, it never happened.
That makes the arrival of “Beware of the Heartless” feel even more like the musical equivalent of unfinished business.
The shows never happened.
But the recording survives.
🎶 CKY ARE TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO NEW MUSIC
The release also offers another glimpse into where CKY are heading creatively.
Rather than necessarily building everything around the traditional album → singles → tour cycle, the band have talked about simply releasing songs as and when they feel the time is right.
Ginsburg has said there are plenty of CKY songs already recorded, with the band apparently sitting on a substantial amount of material.
And in today’s streaming world, perhaps that’s not such a daft approach.
Record something.
Finish it.
Throw it into the world.
See what happens.
No eighteen-month campaign.
No seventeen different coloured vinyl editions.
No deluxe edition containing the same record but with a slightly shinier cardboard box.
Just…
HERE’S A RIFF. HAVE IT.
😂🤘
We can live with that.
🔥 FROM ‘DAYS OF SELF DESTRUCTION’ TO ‘BEWARE OF THE HEARTLESS’
For fans wanting to hear the two CKY/Brent Hinds collaborations side by side, there’s now a rather lovely little double-header.
First came:
🎸 “Days of Self Destruction” — 2017
Featured on CKY’s The Phoenix and carrying a guest appearance from Hinds.
And now:
🎸 “Beware of the Heartless” — 2026
A song released years later carrying another Hinds guitar performance — this time arriving after his death and serving as a tribute to a much-missed friend.
Two songs.
Two moments in time.
One unmistakable guitarist.
❤️ “WE MISS YOU, BRENT”
CKY’s message accompanying the release ended with three simple words:
“We miss you, Brent.”
And really, you don’t need much more than that.
There’s always something strange about hearing previously unreleased music from an artist after they’re gone.
For a few minutes, the usual reality disappears.
You aren’t thinking about dates or headlines.
You’re listening to them play.
Their fingers hit the strings.
Their amp kicks in.
Their personality comes flying through the speakers again.
And somewhere on “Beware of the Heartless” sits a moment when Brent Hinds stood in front of a guitar, hit record and played a solo for his mates in CKY.
Nobody involved could have known how precious that recording would eventually become.
Now we all get to hear it.
Turn it up.
Listen to that solo.
Raise whatever you’re drinking.
And give Brent a nod. 🍺🎸
Rest easy, Brent. The riffs are still bloody roaring. 🤘❤️
🎧 CKY — ‘BEWARE OF THE HEARTLESS’
“Beware of the Heartless” is out now.
It marks the second released CKY song featuring Brent Hinds on guitar following 2017’s “Days of Self Destruction.”
For CKY, it’s new music.
For the fans, it’s a surprise.
But more importantly, it’s another piece of a friend’s musical legacy finally being shared with the people who loved hearing him play.
And that, butt, is worth turning the volume all the way up for.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. 🤘🏴
The Riff Report
