The Hunting Party is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Linkin Park. The album, self-produced by band members Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, will be released by Warner Bros. The album is the first since Meteora not to be produced with Rick Rubin, after producing the band's previous three studio albums. The Hunting Party is a departure from the band's recent electronic rock sound of their previous two studio albums. The album, described by Mike Shinoda as simply "a rock record", serves a statement by the band against contemporary mainstream and active rock bands, accused by Shinoda as "trying to be other bands and playing it safe". Packaged by an artwork by Brandon Parvini based off an original drawing by James Jean, the album took under a year to record and produce, with material being improvisationally written in the studio by members of the band. The album also features guest appearances from Page Hamilton of Helmet, Rakim, Daron Malakian of System of a Down, and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. These are the band's first featured musicians on a studio album.