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Brann Dailor, drummer
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Brann Dailor: Mastodon's drummer + vocalist, decoded

Brann Dailor co-founded Mastodon in 2000 and continues drumming + sharing lead vocals across the band's catalog. Tama Starclassic kit, Meinl cymbals, the modern sludge + prog-metal canon.

Mastodon · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·

Brann Dailor (born March 19, 1975) co-founded Mastodon in 2000 and continues to drum + share lead vocals across the band's catalog. Tama Starclassic kit, Meinl signature cymbals, Vater drumsticks. Widely ranked among the top modern metal drummers of the 2010s; the modern sludge + prog-metal drumming canon, complex polyrhythmic + linear hand-foot vocabulary across Mastodon's eight studio records to date (Remission through Hushed and Grim), with a ninth (Marrow Deep) due in 2026. Lead vocalist on songs like 'The Czar' (Crack the Skye, 2009) and 'Curl of the Burl' (The Hunter, 2011).

Sourcing6 citations · reviewed 2026-07-10· by Change Your Strings editorial team

Who Brann Dailor is

Brann Timothy Dailor, born March 19, 1975, co-founded Mastodon in Atlanta, Georgia in 2000 with Troy Sanders, Brent Hinds, and Bill Kelliher. Across the band's eight studio records to date (Remission, 2002, through Hushed and Grim, 2021), his drumming + co-lead vocal contributions define what modern sludge + prog-metal sounds like. A ninth record, Marrow Deep, is due in 2026.

Before Mastodon he played in Today Is the Day (1999-2000) alongside future Mastodon bandmate Bill Kelliher; they left Today Is the Day together to form Mastodon.

Widely ranked among the top modern metal drummers of the 2010s.

Style signatures

Three things across Mastodon's catalog you can identify as Brann's:

  1. Polyrhythmic patterns inside long-form arrangements. Kick + snare hold one time signature while hi-hat or ride plays another; the technique gives Mastodon's records their layered rhythmic complexity.

  2. Linear hand-foot interplay at velocity. Kick + snare + hi-hat alternate in linear sequences rather than vertical stacks; the post-Gadd technique applied to extreme-metal contexts.

  3. Drumming + lead vocals simultaneously. Mastodon's rotating-vocalist approach lets Dailor sing leads on multiple songs while drumming; the technical demand is significant, and the songs that feature him as vocalist (notably 'The Czar' on Crack the Skye) showcase his range.

Documented gear

  • Meinl Brann Dailor Signature Ghost Ride (SKU CC21GR). 21-inch B8 bronze ride, medium weight, chargrilled dark finish, raw black bell. Meinl's own named signature model, developed in direct collaboration with Dailor. Full review at /gear/meinl-brann-dailor-signature-ghost-ride.
  • Tama Starclassic kit. Brand-level documented via Dailor's long-standing Tama artist-roster listing; no dedicated CYS gear page yet for a specific shell configuration.
  • Vater drumsticks. Brand-level documented endorsement; no dedicated CYS gear page yet for a specific model.
  • Meinl Byzance-line cymbals. A 15-inch Foundry Reserve hihat, two Byzance Traditional crashes (19-inch, 20-inch), and a 22-inch Byzance Jazz China Ride all appear on Meinl's own artist page for Dailor; endorsed use, not named signature products. No dedicated CYS gear pages yet for these.

Related

The catalog. Mastodon, Remission (2002) through Hushed and Grim (2021), with a ninth record, Marrow Deep, due in 2026.

Documented gear. Meinl Brann Dailor Signature Ghost Ride (SKU CC21GR).

Drummer hub. Drummers index. Modern-metal peer: Matt Halpern (Periphery).