It appears as though Mastodon frontman and lead guitarist Brent Hinds can never have enough on his plate. In the midst of recording the melodic prog metal band's next studio effort, he will also be issuing a double disc of two separate side projects, titled Brent Hinds Presents Fiend Without A Face/West End Motel, on June 7th via Rocket Science. The albums are a departure from Mastodon's heavy metal thunder – Fiend touches upon whacked-out surf sounds, while Motel is all about boozy poetry.

Plus, he'll be playing with Mastodon all summer as the group tours Europe and performs a one-off U.S. show with Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, and the Meat Puppets in Washington – and finishes off "album number five" (which will be released later this year). Recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer Mike Elizondo, confirmed song titles for this yet-to-be-named disc include "Blasteroids" and "All The Heavy Lifting." "It sounds pretty different than anything we've ever done," Hinds tells Rolling Stone. "It's un-comparable!"

Choose Rolling Stone's Cover: The Sheepdogs vs. Lelia Broussard. Vote Now!

But don't expect to hear much new material on this summer's European festival tour. "On the European tour, there won't be any new material played – not that we know of yet. But we haven't even had a chance to practice to go on that tour, we've been so busy in the studio. It's possible we might whip out a new song for the Soundgarden show – I would hope we could do that."

And even though Brent Hinds Presents… hasn't been released yet, Hinds is already eyeing further projects. "We're just finishing up another West End Motel album, and then when [Mastodon] get back from Europe, we're going back into the studio with Fiend Without A Face, and I'm going to have Brann [Dailor, Mastodon's drummer] and Jay Weinberg, Max Weinberg's kid, play on the record – have a rotating door of drummer guests. It'll be a proggy sort of album."

Mastodon Unleash the Beast Within: Read Rolling Stone's 2009 Feature

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories