"Final Masquerade" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song was originally recorded by the band for their sixth studio album, The Hunting Party, where it appears as the eleventh track on the album and serves as the fifth and final single. The song premiered on MTV on June 8, 2014. The song was produced by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, and co-produced by Emile Haynie.
An acoustic version of the song was released for digital download on February 19, 2015.
Composition "Final Masquerade" has been described as an alternative rock and a hard rock song.Partridge, Kenneth "Linkin Park's 'The Hunting Party': Track-by-Track Review" Billboard June 18, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2018 In an article from Metal Hammer, it was explained as "more like A Thousand Suns than Hybrid Theory, which Linkin Park gives at their most controlled, meditative, a slowly unfurling, mid-paced anthem built around simmering keyboards, unfussy, low-tempo beats and palm-muted guitar. The song features one of Chester Bennington's finest vocal performances on the album."
MTV described the song as "a sharp, edgy, lushly harmonic heavy-hitter that falls perfectly in line with Linkin Park’s lengthy string of hulking, hooky hits." In an interview with MTV, Shinoda explained:
Music video The official music video for the song, directed by Mark Pellington, was released on July 29, 2014 for premiere on MTV. A lyric video for the song was released earlier, as it debuted through Linkin Park's official Facebook page and in digital download format on June 10, 2014.
As of April 2026, the music video for "Final Masquerade" has over 140 million views on YouTube.
Reception In the track-by-track review by Billboard, the song is given a positive response and explained as, "Synths and palm-muted guitars carry the mid-tempo verses into a head-nodding hard rock chorus. With that, another love affair ends in epic fashion, and there's even a big stadium sing-along."
Accolades The song was voted as the second-best rock song on Kerrang!'s Rock 100 list. The song was placed after another Linkin Park song, "In the End"."In The End" and "Final Masquerade" have made it to the top of Kerrang!'s Rock 100 list Facebook April 15, 2015.
Track listing
Personnel Linkin Park Chester Bennington – lead vocals Rob Bourdon – drums, percussion Brad Delson – lead guitar, backing vocals Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass guitar, backing vocals Joe Hahn ("Mr. Hahn") - samples, programming Mike Shinoda – backing vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
Charts + Chart performance for "Final Masquerade" Chart (2014) Peakposition Portugal (AFP) 22 UK Singles (OCC) 106 UK Rock & Metal (OCC) 2 US Digital Song Sales (Billboard) 47
Release history + Release dates and formats for "Final Masquerade"RegionDateFormatLabel Worldwide June 10, 2014 Digital download India Warner Bros.Final Masquerade by Linkin Park Saavn June 10, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2014. Italy August 1, 2014 Contemporary hit radio Warner Bros. Germany September 20, 2014 CD United States November 11, 2014 Modern rock radio Worldwide February 21, 2015 Promotional single
References