"The Catalyst" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. Released on August 2, 2010, it is the first single from their fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, which was released on September 8, 2010. The music video for the song, directed by the band's turntablist Joe Hahn, was released on August 26, 2010.
"The Catalyst" is used in the trailer and credits of the video game Medal of Honor and also the opening song of Namco-Bandai's Arcade game, Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.. It was also used in select commercials of the Discovery Channel series, Surviving the Cut. The song was also featured in the video game Linkin Park Revenge for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. "The Catalyst" has also been used in the advertisement for the 2011 movie "Lincoln Lawyer" with Matthew McConaughey.
"The Catalyst", along with five other songs from A Thousand Suns, are featured in the "Linkin Park Track Pack" as downloadable content for the rhythm video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The track pack was released on October 19, 2010.
The video for the song was filmed in July and was also directed by Joe Hahn. According to bassist Phoenix,the video contains references to the Bhagavad Gita and J. Robert Oppenheimer as well as the Christian Apocalypse, which are three themes that are also used in the album. When coming up with the idea for the video, Hahn said he thought about what it would be like if mankind had to accept their fate in a time of despair.






