While details surrounding the incident were unclear at press time, Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds suffered what a publicist for for the band's label, Warner Bros., described as a "severe" head injury in an incident that took place sometime after the VMAs early Monday morning. He remains under physicians' care in a Las Vegas hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

According to a Las Vegas police spokesperson, Hinds was inebriated at the time of the assault. Witnesses and security camera footage captured of the incident point to Hinds as the instigator; police said he'd removed his shirt and began hitting his assailant with it before he was knocked to the ground. Detectives are investigating the incident, but no charges had been filed at press time. According to police, a man by the name of William Hudson attacked Hinds; a police spokesperson said Hudson is an artist and attended the show with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian, but did not provide any further information.

Hinds' nose was also broken, and he sustained two black eyes, according to the band's manager, Nick John. Although John did not provide details about what led to Hinds' injuries, he said they occurred at around 3 a.m. Monday morning, after the band had finished one of the highest-profile performances of its career -- a guest spot in the Foo Fighters' suite during Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Mastodon performed their single "Colony of Birchmen" with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme; the song appears on the band's 2006 LP, Blood Mountain.

"Thankfully, it seems he's going to [make a full recovery]," said John. "All I know is he had a bad head injury, broken nose and blacked-out eyes. He doesn't recall much."