Watch Refused’s Dark Video for ‘Dawkins Christ’
As Refused count down to the June 30 release of Freedom, their first album since 1998's The Shape of Punk to Come, the Swedish hardcore outfit continue to share new material, including a video for the song "Dawkins Christ."
The song starts with a female voice chanting a few syllables over muted guitar and marching drums before the guitar kicks in with the band's signature metal-influenced hardcore punk sound. The video flashes various apocalyptic imagery including volcanoes erupting, dark clouds boiling, found footage of pagan rituals and swatches of violent renaissance paintings.
The title of the song is a reference to Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist. "[Dawkins] has inspired a semi-cult who in turn sees him as a messianic figure, an irony that partly inspired the lyrics," said bassist David Sandström in a statement. "The music draws from the film scores of Hans Zimmer and Ennio Morricone as well as pre-Reign in Blood Slayer."
Refused reunited in 2012 after a 14 year hiatus, then again at the end of 2014 without bassist Jon Brännström. Since announcing Freedom, Refused have debuted two other tracks from the album: "Elektra" and "Françafrique."
The Shape of Punk to Come remains a classic of the hardcore punk genre and helped to spawn the rise of "screamo" in the late '90s and early '00s, which took cues from Refused's combination of metal riffs and screaming and more melodic passages.
Refused – "Dawkins Christ" (Official Music Video)