After yearning to be one, our protagonist finally begins the process of becoming an Altered Beast. With white teeth and fur covered body, the Altered Beast devours the human, leading to their rebirth. While sonically similar to the rest of the “Altered Beast” tracks, “Altered Beast III” features a unique “doom metal” section as well as call and response vocals from Stu.
Footage of the band recording and rehearsing “Altered Beast III” can be found in A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH. Interestingly, writing on the wall behind Cavs seems to indicate that the song was split in two parts when creating the track — most likely the main body and the “doom” section at 1:27. The song was released on Murder of the Universe on June 23rd, 2017. A music video for “The Tale of the Altered Beast” was planned but never finished with footage making its way into promotional material and A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH.
The first known performance of “Altered Beast III” was on 2016-12-09 at the Merideth Music Festival, making it the first “Altered Beast” to be played live. The song was played often in 2017, usually as the end of a medley of “Altered Beast” material, though some shows did see it go into “Alter Me III.” The song was only played a few times in 2018, mostly in it’s album sequence although 2018-10-13 saw a rare “Alter Me I” > “Altered Beast III.” In 2019 the song was occasionally played as “Alter Me II” > “Altered Beast III” and in 2022 it returned with narration provided by Leah Senior.