Listen to Toto’s New Song ‘Holy War’ From ‘Toto XIV’

With just a little more than a month to go before Toto return with their first album of original material in nearly a decade, the band is offering fans another sneak peek at the new LP.

"Holy War," the second pre-release track from Toto XIV, is now available as an instant download for customers who pre-order the album from iTunes or Amazon. Featuring vocals from singer Joseph Williams and guitarist Steve Lukather, "War" is reflective of the band's uncompromising approach to penning topical lyrics and complex arrangements for the new LP.

"My mind was focused on this thing that we are fed information to keep us afraid all the time and the lyric addresses that," muses Williams in an essay accompanying Toto XIV. "It was a way of being sarcastic saying 'Okay, you’ve got me. I’m terrified.' That accounts for the first few lines in the song, but as it moves on I was trying to find something that fitted Steve’s melody in the chorus, and ‘Holy War’ literally just came flying out of my mouth. It was the very first idea I had."

"It’s a comment on the way some of us are using God as an excuse to kill people," adds Lukather. "They’re missing the whole f---ing point. The first commandment is 'Thou Shall Not Kill.' There’s no asterisk by the side saying ‘Except in certain circumstances,' Y’know, all this 'My god is better than your god.' We have moved backwards."

Available on March 24, Toto XIV is being released in a variety of configurations, including single-disc CD and deluxe edition CD/DVD featuring a making-of documentary and expanded booklet with essays, interviews and photos. It's also being pressed as a two-LP vinyl set, and for the hardcore fan, there's a deluxe limited edition which includes the CD/DVD and vinyl packages, an exclusive poster, T-shirt and lithograph. Check out "Holy War" above.