True Crime Duo SKYND Share "Heaven's Gate" Video

THE TRACK, REFERENCING THE NOTORIOUS CULT, CONCLUDES CHAPTER V

Industrial-tinged and true crime-inspired electronic duo SKYND is the dark creative outlet and the alter ego of its lead singer, Skynd, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Father. They are known for taking inspiration from inexplicable and brutal criminal cases and the mystery surrounding unsolved deaths, and transforming them into songs to remind us of the darkness within the human psyche, while taking great care to avoid any glorification.

Small clusters of songs have been released as EPs, titled in numbered chapters.

Today, SKYND conclude Chapter V with the release of "Heaven's Gate."

Watch the video below. Listen via your platform of choice here.

Heaven's Gate was a religious group, commonly regarded as a cult, that formed in 1974, and is most well known for one of the world's largest mass suicides of its members in March 1997. Learn more here.

Skynd ponders, "What personality and psychological factors are at play in people who readily submit their lives and wills to cult leaders such as Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhite? How can they not see these people are barking mad? The madness of the cult leader is usually not apparent when the person first joins."

Skynd continues, "This is the second case I have written about a cult. Two cults that cannot be compared with each other and yet they have some (or a lot of) parallels. As incredible and bizarre as Heaven's Gate seems, there are still cults today that brainwash their followers. The whole concept of cults fascinates me because it's always the same thing. Usually, the takeover of your freedom, your thoughts, etc. is a very gradual process. And the taking away of a little piece of your freedom or identity is not seen as a big deal. It's just a small sacrifice for a good cause. The trouble is... those small sacrifices add up until they’re a huge pile of sacrifices. But by then you're so indoctrinated into the group that it really doesn't matter to you that much. You've bought into the group's message and mission. The group is your 'family' now. It’s their influence that drives you rather than your own inner voice of reason."

Skynd finishes, "Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles (known as Do and Ti) were able to appeal to members by reaching out to people disillusioned with society and religious spaces. Heaven's Gate first ran into a major problem in 1985, one that confronts many 'prophetic' religious leaders, cult or otherwise. When Ti passed away in 1985 due to liver cancer, her body did not ascend per Heaven's Gate's theology. So, Do had to adapt his teachings to this observable contradiction of the cult's beliefs. I personally blame Marshall for continuing anyway, even though he knew it was a total lie."

Long-time collaborator and accomplished film maker PR Brown, who directed the song's official video comments, "Creating the video for 'Heaven's Gate' posed a unique challenge. How do we show the horror of 39 people who died because a man convinced them that they would all transform into eternal alien beings? We wanted to reveal Marshall Applewhite as an ominous religious figure. Then, as the video progresses, we wanted to show that it was all just a grift from a mentally unstable man. Skynd masterfully narrates us through the multiple layers, like peeling back layers of an onion, to get us to the ultimate truth."

SKYND are currently lining up festival appearances for 2024, with slots already confirmed at Graspop, With Full Force, Tons Of Rock, and Motorcultor. For a full list of SKYND performances, visit here.

ABOUT SKYND:
We all conceal something behind the earthly façade we show to the world. Maybe it's an unspoken fetish. Perhaps it's a covetous urge. Or it could just be the kind of darkness we acknowledge in passing —but don't dare reference out loud. SKYND peel back those layers and uncover what lurks beneath in all of its painful glory. The industrialized gothic electronic duo — Skynd [lead vocals] and "Father" [producer, multi-instrumentalist] — exorcize beauty by bloodletting as they mine some of history’s most baffling, bizarre, and brutal crimes across their EPs.

SKYND released Chapter I in 2018, which included Korn's Jonathan Davis as a special guest on "Gary Heidnik." Chapter II followed in 2019. Chapter III comprised "Chris Watts," "Michelle Carter," and "Columbine," the latter featuring a guest spot from noted hip-hop artist Bill $aber. Chapter IV focussed on "Armin Meiwes," "John Wayne Gacy," and "Edmund Kemper."

Each chapter continues SKYND's exploration of the darkest and most disturbing parts of the human psyche, following their belief that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Chapter V began in August 2023 with "Robert Hansen" and continued with "Bianca Devins," named more unusually for the victim. "Heaven's Gate" is their latest release and concludes this chapter.

To date, SKYND's music has racked up 30.5 million streams on their Spotify channel alone, their official YouTube channel has amassed over 45 million views.

True Crime Duo SKYND Share "Bianca Devins" Video

Industrial-tinged and true crime-inspired electronic duo SKYND is the dark creative outlet and the alter ego of its lead singer, Skynd, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Father. They are known for taking inspiration from inexplicable and brutal criminal cases and the mystery surrounding unsolved deaths, and transforming them into songs to remind us of the darkness within the human psyche, while taking great care to avoid any glorification. Small clusters of songs have been released as EPs, titled in numbered chapters.

Today, SKYND begin Chapter V, with the release of new track "Bianca Devins" and its official video.

Watch the video below.

"Bianca Devins" stands out amongst SKYND's releases, in part for being named for the victim and not the perpetrator, as is the case with all previous tracks. This recent case — from July 14, 2019 — also showed just how gruesome the dark side of social media can be.

Skynd says, "Bianca Devins is a case that shook me to the core, as it shows us once again what power social media can have. How incredibly confusing the rules are. A woman showing her nipples is censored, but a photo of a young, half-beheaded girl named Bianca Devins circulated for weeks on social media platforms. The brutality of Brandon Clark's inhuman cruelty towards Bianca is still shocking. The warning signs were there. The Instagram stories he posted were all aimed at the same thing: he was jealous, he wanted her for himself, he wanted to kill her, and because she kissed another boy, it seemed like revenge. He took Bianca's life because he couldn't stand that she wanted to live her life the way she did. He took that away from her. People then posted this horrific photo of her, not even knowing her name. They just shared it, not fully knowing what happened. That's why it was very important to me to write about her, to put her name out there once again, and put her in the spotlight."

Highly respected filmmaker PR Brown, who once again directed the song's official video, adds, "When I first heard the Bianca Devins track I couldn't help but think of my own daughter. The video is more of a tragic cautionary tale about the dangers of becoming a superhero in the social online world and what that could hold. Skynd wanted to reflect Bianca's real and imagined world as two opposing sides. In the video, she gives in to the temptation to be bigger than herself as it all becomes a bit too surreal and overwhelming. By the end, the lines are blurred between what is real and what is a dream."

SKYND are soon to embark on a string of European headline dates from November 1, 2023 and can now reveal special guests in mainland Europe will be Knife Bride, with Zetra opening proceedings for the UK dates.

We all conceal something behind the earthly façade we show to the world. Maybe it's an unspoken fetish. Perhaps it's a covetous urge. Or it could just be the kind of darkness we acknowledge in passing —but don't dare reference out loud. SKYND peel back those layers and uncover what lurks beneath in all of its painful glory. The industrialized gothic electronic duo — Skynd [lead vocals] and "Father" [producer, multi-instrumentalist] —exorcize beauty by bloodletting as they mine some of history’s most baffling, bizarre, and brutal crimes across their EPs.

SKYND released Chapter I in 2018, which included Korn's Jonathan Davis as a special guest on "
Gary Heidnik". Chapter II followed in 2019. Chapter III comprised "Chris Watts", "Michelle Carter", and "Columbine", the latter featuring a guest spot from noted hip-hop artist Bill $aber. Chapter IV focussed on "Armin Meiwes", "John Wayne Gacy", and "Edmund Kemper." Each chapter continues SKYND's exploration of the darkest and most disturbing parts of the human psyche, following their belief that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Chapter V began in August 2023 with "Robert Hansen". To date, SKYND's music has racked up 30.5 million streams on their Spotify channel alone, their official YouTube channel has amassed over 45 million views.

True Crime Duo SKYND Share "Robert Hansen" Video — WATCH

Industrial-tinged and true crime-inspired electronic duo SKYND is the dark creative outlet and the alter ego of its lead singer, Skynd, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Father. They are known for taking inspiration from inexplicable and brutal criminal cases and the mystery surrounding unsolved deaths, and transforming them into songs to remind us of the darkness within the human psyche, while taking great care to avoid any glorification. Small clusters of songs have been released as EPs, titled in numbered chapters.

Today, SKYND begin Chapter V, with the release of new track "Robert Hansen" and its official video.

Watch the video

Skynd muses, "I was surprised not many people talk about Robert Hansen, the 'Butcher Baker.' I personally consider him one of the most evil serial killers in American history. He not only had a high victim count; he literally hunted his victims in the woods like wild animals sometimes. I can’t think of any other serial killer who’s done that to the extent that Hansen did. That's why I had an urge to write about it. The hunting, the run, run, run seemed logical to use because the mental image I had while writing the song with Father, was a young girl running barefoot though the forest."

The official video was directed once again by noted film maker PR Brown, who comments, "Robert Hansen was a particularly twisted monster. For the video, we explored an uncomfortable space through the lens of watching a baker at work. His violence was too brutal to show or frankly glorify, so we expressed through yeast and powder. We filmed the forest while it was snowing and it was not lost on any of us just how cold his victims must have been. Alaska must have been a thousand times worse, surviving only on adrenaline as the women were set loose like game. Skynd delivered a haunting portrayal as the voice in their head. This video and the whole process stands out to me as one of the more difficult to shoot but maybe one of the most rewarding in terms of the finished piece. Run, run, run."

ABOUT SKYND:
We all conceal something behind the earthly façade we show to the world. Maybe it's an unspoken fetish. Perhaps it's a covetous urge. Or it could just be the kind of darkness we acknowledge in passing —but don't dare reference out loud. SKYND peel back those layers and uncover what lurks beneath in all of its painful glory. The industrialized gothic electronic duo — Skynd [lead vocals] and "Father" [producer, multi-instrumentalist] —exorcize beauty by bloodletting as they mine some of history’s most baffling, bizarre, and brutal crimes across their EPs.

True Crime Duo SKYND Share "Edmund Kemper" Video — WATCH

SINGLE CONCLUDES CHAPTER IV + FEATURES A SPECIAL GUEST GUITARIST

BAND ANNOUNCES EUROPEAN HEADLINE TOUR + BLOODSTOCK FESTIVAL IN AUGUST

Industrial-tinged and true crime-inspired electronic duo SKYND is the dark creative outlet and the alter ego of its lead singer, Skynd, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Father. They are known for taking inspiration from inexplicable and brutal criminal cases and the mystery surrounding unsolved deaths, and transforming them into songs to remind us of the darkness within the human psyche, while taking great care to avoid any glorification. Small clusters of songs have been released as EPs, titled in numbered chapters.

Today, SKYND concludes Chapter IV with the release of the new single "Edmund Kemper" and its accompanying video, directed by Anique Wild. The song features a mysterious guitarist as the special guest.  Watch the video
below.

Often asked why about each particular case that is covered Skynd comments, "There is a detail to this story that stuck with me and sparked my creativity to write about Edmund Kemper. As a young boy, Edmund liked to play with Barbie dolls and dolls. He 'took' their heads off and that made a sound like a 'pop,' performing funeral rites. While translating true crime cases into music, I have a visual idea of the song, and the dolls had to be in the video. It was important to me to show the beheading of the doll because it illustrates his crimes, without being too gratuitous."

Director Wild adds, "I had the great honor to translate Skynd's new song into a visual world. A hardly believable story of a brutal monster who could not appear more normal in the outside world. The video is meant to convey the values of this song in an artistic, visual way. Find the story behind the story — try to look behind the curtain."

ABOUT SKYND:
We all conceal something behind the earthly façade we show to the world. Maybe it's an unspoken fetish. Perhaps it's a covetous urge. Or it could just be the kind of darkness we acknowledge in passing —but don't dare reference out loud. SKYND peel back those layers and uncover what lurks beneath in all of its painful glory. The industrialized gothic electronic duo — Skynd [lead vocals] and "Father" [producer, multi-instrumentalist] —exorcize beauty by bloodletting as they mine some of history’s most baffling, bizarre, and brutal crimes across their EPs.