Death metal legends Obituary have released an animated music video for the track "Violence" from their most recent album, Inked In Blood. The video, which was animated / directed by Balázs Gróf, can be viewed below.

The band commented on the video: "We had a blast creating the idea for the video and to watch Balázs animate us was a very cool experience.  In the world of modern technology it is easy to shoot a music video with a camera crew and high-tech video equipment but we wanted something different. Something we hope the fans enjoy and understand that Obituary, though we are the godfathers of Florida death metal, don't take themselves too seriously and enjoy having fun. This cartoon is a perfect example of what kind of people we are. Not afraid to kick ass on stage but also not afraid to laugh at ourselves.

We know that music is created for fans to enjoy and get away in their mind from the real world for just a few moments at a time and this video we hope makes them smile and laugh with us and at us."

Director / animator Balázs Gróf commented as well:  "I made a video for the Hungarian band Blind Myself which went on Headbangers Ball's best videos of 2008 chart and it was seen by John Tardy, who became interested in having an animated video for Obituary. Eventually the long awaited new studio album Inked In Blood provided the reason for making one.

I've been a fan of Obituary since 1990, I have seen all their gigs in Budapest during the years, so I got extremely happy when we made a deal. First I made a 18 second-long animation for a snippet of the first single Visions In My head which was quite brutal and gory, just to illustrate my concept on an Obituary video. The Tardy brothers dug it, however they came up with the idea of a fun video for Violence drawn in classic cartoon style. They made up the whole storyline. As most of the important elements, that was also their idea to make the band's van as a reference to probably the most famous van in American cartoon history - and which I won't name now not to spoil anyone's entertainment... I only added a few special characters to the story. Finally it was about 6 months in the making. It's been a blast and the guys were super cool throughout the process. It was big fun meeting them in person at their killer show in Budapest.

I am very honoured that Obituary hired me to do this video. It would be so funny to go back in time to tell the 16 year-old me that this is going to happen. Obviously the poor fellow would pass out immediately!"

Additionally, Obituary have announced a series of festival appearances and headlining shows. A complete listing of dates can be see below.  

June
20 - Clisson, France - Hellfest 2015

July
3 - Antwerp, Belgium - Antwerp Metal Fest
4 - Trier, Germany - Death Shall Rise Festival
5 - Flugplatz Roitzschjora, Germany - With Full Force Festival
9 - Trutnov, Czech Republic - Obscene Extreme Festival

August
1 - Wacken, Germany - Wacken Open Air
7 - Oulu, Finland - Jalometalli Festival
8 - Oldehoosterkerkhof, Netherlands - Into The Grave Festival
9 - Rome, Italy - Agglutination Metal Festival

Sepbember
4 - Loos-En-Gohelle, France - Gohelle Fest
11 - Cave in Rock, IL - Full Terror Assault Festival

October
11 - Tokyo, Japan - LoudPark Festival