First Look: Check Out Stills from Linkin Park's 'The Catalyst' Video

Linkin Park has said that the band's new release, A Thousand Suns, would be a concept album, but only dropped occasional hints of what that concept would be. And the lyrics to the first single, "The Catalyst," sketch a pretty dark picture about what it may be.

"We will burn inside the fires of a thousand suns," sings Chester Bennington over a dense layer of ominous synths and sustained guitars. Joe Hahn, Linkin Park's DJ and sampler, directed the "The Catalyst" video (which will premiere on August 26 on MTV). Hahn name-checks Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atomic bomb, and the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture, when explaining the inspiration for the song and its video.

“When coming up with the idea of the visual piece to accompany the song, I thought of the end," Hahn says. “What would it look like and feel like if someone pushed the button to decide our fate? What would it feel like if we accepted our fate in the moment of devastation? If we had a final moment to celebrate our final living moments, how would that feel?"

Heavy enough for you? Check out some of the first stills to appear from Linkin Park's "The Catalyst" video and don't miss the a 30-second preview on Monday, August 23, here on Buzzworthy.

+ See more stills from Linkin Park's "The Catalyst" video after the jump.

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