After their transformation, our protagonist is satisfied with their newfound power and body, feeling that they can live this life of cruelty forever. However, while happy for a time, they begin to realize that there’s an emptiness inside that cannot be fixed through more bloodshed. They have lived out their cruel fantasies but now have no emotional response. Accompanied by an 11/16 rhythm, grand choruses and mind-bending, repetitive passages sung by Stu, “Altered Beast IV” is the final “Altered Beast.” The song was released on Murder of the Universe on June 23rd, 2017.
At the end of the demo for “Altered Beast I” found on Demos Vol. 4: Music To Die To, the intro riff from the final version of IV is heard. In the documentary A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH we see the band recording the song at Flightless HQ. On the wall behind Cavs is a bunch of writing for the album structure. Within the writings is a quick note that “Altered Beast IV” would be created in two parts. This could be marking the main part of the song and the “Alter Me” reprise at 4:10. 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.
Based on available data “Altered Beast IV” was first played on 2017-09-23 as part of the Audiotree Music Festival. The song would be played throughout the end of 2017 in its album placement next to “Alter Me III” during medleys of “The Tale of the Altered Beast” — though these performances never transitioned into the next album track “Life/Death.” Following many performances, it was very rarely played by the band in 2018, with one known performance on 2018-08-07. In 2019 the song was played a few times in the pairing of “Alter Me III” > “Altered Beast IV”, and in 2022 it would be played with narration from Leah Senior. As of writing, “Altered Beast IV” is the least played of the “Altered Beast” tracks.