Words by Skinned vocalist/guitarist Travis Weickum
This past May, we had the opportunity to play the third annual Reykjavík Deathfest in Iceland. And, as luck would have it, our friend Paul McGUIRE (ex-Cerebral Bore) of Obscenery Films (Hatebreed, Cattle Decapitation, Dying Fetus), already had plans to attend and shoot some footage for Psycroptic who was also playing the fest. The universe basically threw at us an opportunity to shoot an epic video in one of the most incredible landscapes in the world. With a little extra planning we were able to get our schedules to align and shoot this awesome video for “Wings of Virulence” (watch below).
Purchase Shadow Syndicate here.
If you haven’t already been to Iceland – get off your ass! Seriously, the landscape is truly amazing. Black sand beaches at the feet of huge mountains, a few volcanoes thrown in to keep things exciting, gigantic waterfalls, hot springs, and that’s just the part South of Reykjavík. We also happened to be there near the Summer solstice so we had close to 20 hours of daylight every day. It was wild! It never actually got dark.
Reykjavík is a great town and the venue, Gaukurinn, home to the fest for the last three years is right in the city center. Gaukurinn is a really cool venue. As so as you walk in the entrance you’re greeted with a big sign that reads, “We Welcome EVERYONE except for assholes.” They host lots of different bands, drags shows, standup comedy, open-mic nights, and lots of other random entertainment. An added bonus this year was the festival’s catering for the bands. It was provided by a brand new vegan restaurant, Veganaes located in the venue. Veganaes was delicious; check it out when you visit and tell chef Linnea that Skinned sent you.
After two days of a great fest with bands from all over the northern hemisphere (Malignancy, Psycroptic, Dodecahedron, Dead Congregation, and many more) we had a two days to shoot the video which, as said, it for our song “Wings of Virulence”, from our brand new album, “Shadow Syndicate”, which was produced by Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage, Allegaeon). The album’s about various conspiracy theories. The song for the video is about chemtrails and how they’re potentially dangerous to humankind. The concept for the video was pretty straightforward. An individual who had been living underground to escape the dangerous chemicals finally emerges to a landscape devoid of any signs of other people. The rugged landscape in Iceland is a perfect candidate for that concept!
That said, the weather in Iceland is notoriously varied and unpredictable. It can change from sunshine and blue skies to wind and rain, then aback to sun in a matter of minutes. Other times the weather is just plain shitty. Day one it rained. All day. And basically everywhere we could conceivably drive in that one day. Day 2 was much more cooperative. The first and third location was at Reykjanes, which was roughly an hour drive from Reykjavík. This was the place with the dramatic coastline, crashing surf, and the panoramic shots of our vocalist on the cliff overlooking the rocks about 75 meters below him. When we first arrived it was really windy and the surf was absolutely outrageous. Unfortunately, that also meant the drone was completely unstable and the spray from the water kept dirtying the camera lens. So, most of the footage of the band playing was all handheld and away from the water. While we were here the first time a tour bus with about 50 tourists pulled up right after we started filming. The bus was parked about 30 meters away. After they all walked around a bit and took their pictures of the magnificent coastline they went back and waited outside the bus and watched us bang our heads to nothing but drums. It’s hard to look brutal in a video when you have 50 tourists in colorful rain suits watching, nodding their heads, and dancing along with the drums. We got a very nice applause after that take, ha-ha.
We were able to return to Reykjanes much later in the day thanks to the 20 hours of daylight. We had much less wind and were able to get some of the really amazing footage of John walking along the cliff line with surf crashing next to him, and the sunset in the background. With a little luck and even less sleep, we shot the entire video in one very long day.
“Wings Of Virulence” is our third single released from the new album and so far we’ve gotten some killer feedback from fans and reviewers like “Skinned are a formidable band and this album is utterly devastating” by Brutalism. “A glorious rampage.” by No Clean Singing… Of course we’re stoked to get some killer reviews for the new album but we’re even more excited to get it out on the road and that new video release is perfect timing as we’re headed to Europe.
Tour Dates:
Jul.28 – Netherlands – Steenwijk – Stonehenge Open Air
Jul.30 – Romania – Oradea – String’s
Jul.31 – Romania – Cluj-Napoca – Tevi
Aug.01 – Romania – Deva – John’s
Aug.02 – Bulgaria – Ruse – Legacy
Aug.03 – Bulgaria – Sofia – Live & Loud
Aug.04 – Romania – Bucharest – Yellow
Aug.05 – Romania – Sibiu – Underground
Aug.06 – Romania – Timisoara – Manufactura
Aug.07 – Serbia – Niš – Black Stage
Aug.08 – Serbia – Šabac – Zeppelin
Aug.09 – Serbia – Šid – Ðura Kiš
Aug.10 – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Tuzla – BKC
Aug.11 – Hungary – Budapest – Underground
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