Linkin Park have spent much of the past year touting the overall insanity of their upcoming A Thousand Suns album (it's a "grandiose insanity," in case you were wondering), and that idea certainly carries over into the first single, an aching slice of synth doomery titled "The Catalyst." It seems that, every step of the way, the band is trying very hard to move beyond their nu-metal roots.

So it should come as no surprise, too, that the video for "The Catalyst" is a far different animal.

"[Linkin Park DJ] Joe [Hahn] directed it, and Joe likes to create things visually, likes to go for something...

I dreamed I was missing
You were so scared
But no one would listen
Cause no one else cared

After my dreaming
I woke with this fear
What am I leaving
When I'm done here

So if you're asking me
I want you to know

[Chorus]
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed

And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory

Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
[End Chorus]

Don't be afraid
I've taken my beating
I've shed but I made

I'm strong on the surface
Not all the way through
I've never been perfect
But neither have you

So if you're asking me...

This is not the end, this is not the beginning
Just a voice like a riot, rocking every revision
But you listen to the tone and the violent rhythm
Though the words sound steady, something empty's withing 'em
We say yeah
With fists flying up in the air
Like we're holding onto something that's invisible there
'Cause we're living at the mercy of the pain and the fear
Until we dead it, forget it, let it all disappear

Waiting for the end to come
Wishing I had strength to stand
This is not what I had planned
It's out of my control
Flying at the speed of light
Thoughts were spinning in my head
So many things were...