Rolling Stone today premiered Anthrax’s epic new video for “Blood Eagle Wings.”
The eight-minute single is from the recently released album, For All Kings, and is one that received a strong endorsement from Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian.
“I think it’s our masterpiece of a song,” he told RS. “It’s the biggest, coolest thing we’ve ever written.”
Directed by Jack Bennett, the brutally gory video features a skull-mask wearing king ruling over a primitive society established on torture and horrific murder. Actor James Duval (known for his work in Donnie Darko) plays the protagonist, and witnesses the horror taking place around him until finally meeting his own gruesome demise.
The video comes to an end with the king overlooking a modern city, and with a few surprise characters.
“We created this torture chamber, sitting below this horrible king’s hall,” explained Bennett of the setting. “This guy gets to play with his toys and look through the grate in the floor and see this group of people that he’s essentially crushing. The idea is that this power is built on top of these people. It’s brutal and there’s a lot of amazing torture gags happening, but it all serves this concept that progress is brutal. Civilizations progress in a way that is violent.”
Check out the clip below, and get the new album here.