Edge of Infinity

Kato Julian Winters (born David Julian Winters) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the Brooklyn-based metalcore band Edge of Infinity. Winters is one of the band's primary founders and is credited with the bulk of it's lyrical work.

Winters has additionally worked closely with the indie-rock band Nightshrike, both in a solo capacity, providing guest vocals on multiple tracks and participating in livestreams,[1] as well as within his role for Edge of Infinity, which frequently opened for Nightshrike between 2014-2017. Nightshrike additionally toured with Edge of Infinity during their 2014 Broken Glass Tour, along with former associate Bryluen Price.

Kato Julian Winters was born on July 7, 1995, as David Julian Winters, in Great Falls, Montana. His mother worked sporadically, with episodes of unemployment due to depressive episodes, while his father held a PhD and worked in science and research fields. Winters moved to Queens, New York at age six, after his father left a position at the McLaughlin Research Institute in favor of an offer based in New York City.[2]

Winters described his father, a probable sufferer of untreated OCPD, as "draconian, iron-fisted, [...] a totally unpleasable perfectionist," and refers to his father's imposition of impossibly high standards—as well as the punitive screaming matches or silent treatment—as a significantly damaging aspect of his childhood. His mother was largely emotionally absent. Winters alleges that he was a victim of sexual abuse by a male staff member at his elementary school, but suffered dissociative amnesia in relation to the trauma that lasted into adulthood.[3] Winters additionally was verbally and physically bullied from elementary school up through high school, and described, variously: His peers treating him as "weird" or mentally deficient prior to his ADHD diagnosis and subsequent medication; his physical appearance becoming subject to taunts as he got older, and that after growing his hair out in middle school, he was frequently targeted with LGBT-phobia involving verbal aggression, slurs, and physical assault.[4] He was quoted saying that high school "felt like a hostile environment on every level [...] unsurvivable."

To cope, Winters began playing guitar and writing poetry, some of which went on to become song lyrics in later years. He befriended future band member, drummer Athena Brookes, in ninth grade. Both credited their shared affinity for Linkin Park's song, "Numb," as the source of their initial bond[5], though they also shared in experiences of homophobia, as well as academic pressure from their parents. For Winters, the abuse at school combined with his home environment affected him so heavily that he ended up resorting to self-injury and overdose. He attempted suicide multiple times in high school, later describing how he "Puked gutfuls of aspirin into the hall toilet in tenth grade while [his mother] was a room away." He summed up his emotional experience as a teenager with: "I never mattered. I couldn’t matter. Ever.”[4]

Halfway through high school, Winters found himself so involved with despair that he was experiencing homicidal ideation after becoming infatuated with the subject of the Columbine High School massacre, a topic which went on to be heavily featured in his lyrical work and an eventual source of controversy for some of Edge of Infinity's music†. In 2011, at the age of 16, Winters dropped out of school "for the safety of all involved" and moved in with future bandmates, Athena and Sethfire Brookes.[6] He has repeatedly credited the siblings with saving his life but has publicly declined to comment on speculative rumors about the seriousness of the situation.

Winters first began singing and playing guitar in high school. He and drummer Athena Brookes had been playing together for several years already before meeting bassist and unclean vocalist Anarchy Keystone in December of 2011,[7] after which Edge of Infinity officialized itself as a band, additionally taking on Athena's brother, Sethfire Brookes, as a part-time vocalist and lyricist during the band's formation. They released their debut album, We Are Not Our Scars, in July of 2013. All of their music including and since We Are Not Our Scars has been entirely self-produced and self-released, which Winters described in an interview as "good for [his] anal-retentive tendencies," though he has also alluded to the band not being opposed to finding a record label, and joked about the band lacking a contract with one being due to his controversial lyrical work.[8]

Edge of Infinity gained additional members since it's formation in 2012, adding Aetos Cammell in 2016[9] and Cheyenne Keystone in 2018[10], the latter bringing EDM influence and a greater use of synth to the band. The current members of Edge of Infinity are as follows:

• Kato Winters – lead vocals, lead guitar, songwriter (2012–present)
• Anarchy Keystone – bass, unclean vocals, rapping (2012–present)
• Athena Brookes – drums, occasional backing vocals (2012–present)
• Sethfire Brookes – occasional vocals (2012–present)
• Aetos Cammell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, violin (2016–present), keyboard (2016-2018)
• Cheyenne Keystone (née Reykjavík) – keyboard, occasional backing vocals, synthesizer, turntables, samples, programming (2018–present)

The discography of Edge of Infinity consists of five full-length albums and one EP (listed below) as well as numerous demos and singles.

• We Are Not Our Scars (2013)
• Broken Glass Just Tastes Like Blood (2014)
• Suburban Casualties (2016)
• Concrete As A Painkiller EP (2017)
• B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L (2019)
• With A Hope-lit Lighthouse and Honest Storms (2021)

Shortly before the release of Broken Glass Just Tastes Like Blood, Edge of Infinity fostered a close connection with indie-rock band Nightshrike, as the founders, Gabriel and Gracian Everness, had attended high school with Winters and Athena Brookes.[11] Edge of Infinity widely credited the support from Nightshrike and former-affiliate Bryluen Price as being instrumental in the success of the band, which frequently opened for Nightshrike acts between 2014-2017 at Eocene nightclub, owned by honorary Nightshrike member Astoria Kent. Nightshrike opened in kind for Edge of Infinity during the 2014 Broken Glass Tour, along with Price. Winters developed a close friendship with Gabriel Everness, resulting from the working relationship of their bands and mutual friendships of their fellow bandmates, and began appearing on livestreams with Everness.[1] Each featured as guest vocalists on one another's albums on multiple tracks, and even invited one another onstage during concerts for impromptu collaboration. In 2017, vague and passive-aggressive tweets by members and affiliates of both Nightshrike and Edge of Infinity alluded to tension[dead link] between the bands, and Winters removed photographs and mentions of Everness from multiple social media platforms. In early 2018, Winters described the abrupt falling-out between the two bands as "the emotional equivalent of an extinction event." However, most involved parties have consistently declined to comment on the specifics or cause of the rift, citing a desire for privacy. The bands have since patched things up, albeit with the notable absence of Bryluen Price.[12] In 2019, Winters invited Everness to provide guest vocals on B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L, signalling a return to the close collaboration the pair had done before.

Edge of Infinity combines diverse elements of alt rock, industrial & nu metal, EDM, punk, and electronicore, with the aggressive and emotionally intense foundation of the post-hardcore genre. They're known for their use of metaphor and the poetic feel of their raw, personal lyrics, which cover subject matter such as mental illness, self-injury, and suicide, as well as addiction, abuse, and classism. Their albums have also tackled anti-theism and school shootings, drawing equal attention and ire.‡ The band is most frequently described as metalcore, post-hardcore, melodic hardcore, or screamo, though members typically avoid openly identifying it as having a specific genre. The band's sound has been often compared to acts like Outline In Color, Thousand Below, The Amity Affliction, Everyone Dies In Utah, and DangerKids, with Winters himself and his style of transitioning between clean and unclean vocals being frequently compared to Landon Tewers of The Plot In You.

In an interview with Alt-Rock Underground: NYC, Winters stated that the band didn't have a genre, but has cited Alesana, Linkin Park, Everyone Dies In Utah, The Amity Affliction, The Used, Saosin, and Rise Against as inspirations both for Edge of Infinity's overall sound as well as being personally influencial for Winters' development of his own lyrical style.[8] As the main lyricist for the band, Winters is often responsible for the emotional intimacy of Edge of Infinity's songs. Outside of personal experience, he draws inspiration from literature, social sciences, and Mediterranean history, especially Ancient Rome.

Edge of Infinity's fourth and most controversial album, B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L was released September 11, 2019, drawing immediate critism both for the album name, which was accused of being a 'call to arms,' as well as for the inclusion of audio clips of the Columbine shooters on certain tracks. Additionally, the album was accused of being anti-education; of having lyrical content condoning violence, specifically violence in schools; being disrespectful to the victims of school shootings; and of promoting vandalism, arson, delinquency, or even domestic terrorism. The new, negative attention on the band resulted in songs from their previous albums coming under fire as well, with primary focus being on 13, 32, 26 (Under The Gun), Everlasting Contrast, and Infinity Times Itself. All were written by Winters, and he experienced specific personal scrutiny due to having multiple tattoos related to the Columbine shooters, a history of wearing T-shirts associated with the shooting, and his personal account of experiencing homicidal thoughts in high school. Numerous unsubstantiated rumors surfaced online, theorizing (amongst other allegations) that Winters had come far closer to perpetrating a crime than he acknowledged and had been expelled, rather than dropping out; that he experienced hybristophilia, a romantic or sexual infatuation with mass murderers; that he still held a grudge against his high school and was attempting to influence one of his fans to finish the job; or that he was hoping to incite a wave of school shootings across the U.S. due to personal or political motivations.

When asked about the media's allegations that the album's messaging was pro-violence and anti-education in an interview with Alt-Rock Underground: NYC, Winters argued that the album was being willfully misinterpreted, comparing the situation to the Marilyn Manson–Columbine High School massacre controversy and stating that the critism was just a symptom of alternative subculture being scapegoated by mainstream media:[8]

Winters ended up getting the majority of his Columbine-inspired tattoos covered up in 2019 and early 2020,[13] though he never cited the album's reception as the catalyst of the change. His interview (quoted above) was positively recieved, drawing significant engagement and support from the publication's younger audience. Vocal public opinion shifted in a more neutral-positive direction, and the controversy surrounding the album gradually died down as the news cycle moved on.

Musically, despite concerns from fans that the addition of Cheyenne Keystone as a band-member and the inclusion of synth could result in the band straying from it's hardcore origins, the album was consistent with Edge of Infinity's established sound, with synthesizers used to bring in audio clips and noise samples that provided a grittier, 90's industrial metal feel. Despite the controversy and an apprehensive audience, B⬛RN D⬛WN Y⬛⬛R SCH⬛⬛L ended up being Edge of Infinity's second best-selling album until 2021, when the sales of With A Hope-Lit Lighthouse And Honest Storms nudged it down to #3.

Since moving to Brooklyn to live with Athena and Sethfire Brookes when he was sixteen, Winters has continued to share a very close connection with his bandmates, who he classifies as "found family." Both Athena Brookes and Anarchy Keystone credit Winters with having supported them through difficult times or even with having helped save their lives, a sentiment that Winters has reciprocated for both. Winters and Keystone went on to share an apartment, accompanied by Athena Brookes between 2015-2017. Winters and Anarchy Keystone continue to live together, joined by Cheyenne Keystone in 2018.

Winters openly referenced being part of the LGBTQ community since the start of his career, and spoke non-infrequently about his experience of homophobic bullying as well as his attraction to men. The brief relationship Winters had with tattooist Fawkes Leroux in 2017 therefore caused a small stir for an audience which had largely interpreted him as exclusively gay. He subsequently identified himself as bisexual in a tweet,[14] though he maintained that he had a strong masculine preference and referred to himself as "homoflexible" on at least one other occasion.

Winters self-describes as an anti-theist, and has openly denounced religion, most specifically Christianity and Catholicism, giving reasons including religious discrimination against LGBT people; misinformation, hypocrisy, and contradictions in religious texts; the church's history of protecting child predators; and a belief system that he says "relies on logical fallacies and cognitive dissonance" and "fosters inaction, ignorance, shame, and fear."[8]

Winters describes himself as a "massive nerd," with particlar interests in Ancient Rome and Mediterranean history, as well as a well-known morbid fascination with the Columbine High School massacre, which has caused him some personal controversy. An avid reader, Winters has mentioned Charles Bukowski, Nietzche and Dostoyevsky as authors whose work he has returned to repeatedly.[8]

Winters struggled with mental illness from an early age, and used his lyrical work to reveal long-term struggles with depression, self-injury, suicidal and homicidal ideation, self-loathing, disordered eating, alcoholism, drug use, and flashbacks. In 2021, Winters was hospitalized for a mental health crisis and a life-threatening eating disorder.[15] After being released from inpatient hospitalization, Winters revealed that he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD.) Winters described his personal life as having been "disfigured by" the illness, which he said caused him unpredictable mood swings, psychotic symptoms,[16] chronic feelings of worthlessness and emptiness that drove him to substance abuse and hypersexuality, and a tendency to ‘split’ on his friends and bandmates, which involved him feeling disproportionately betrayed by them; abandoned, angry, even loathing—though simultaneously aware that his anger was irrational, even when that rage caused him to act in ways that were manipulative or cruel. This led to him using self-injury, substances, and eating disorder behaviors as methods of self-punishment for hating people he knew he loved. Winters described his BPD leading to him being consumed by a feeling of existential guilt; truly and uncompromisingly believing himself to be fundamentally bad—not just flawed, but "horrible, evil, and monstrous."[2] Through treatment, Winters says he is now learning to manage the damaging symptoms of BPD he experienced and the maladaptive coping mechanisms he'd developed, thanking his friends and fans for their support and patience.

Winters revealed that in addition to receiving treatment for BPD and atypical anorexia in hospital, he was also recovering from a cocaine addiction that had begun when he was introduced to the drug at age seventeen. In addition to cocaine, Winters acknowledges having previously used or abused Adderall, ketamine, MDMA, and over-the-counter medications in efforts to cope with symptoms of his mental illness. Winters also admitted to alcoholism after his hospitalization, but indicated a desire to normalize his relationship with alcohol rather than pursue total sobriety.

From 2012 until 2020, (ages 16 to 24) Winters worked as a gay camboy under the alias “Bennett Reed,” catering to a niche audience with acts heavily involving degradation and dark fantasies. Eventually Winters went on to meet with some viewers in person to hook-up, and allegedly purchased a motorcycle with money he earned through such meetings, though he denied having engaged in prostitution to any great extent. Despite being a minor when he started camming, Winters stated that he was able to use a fake ID to circumvent the age restriction imposed by the hosting website he selected, which was shut down in autumn of 2021 due to unrelated reports of underage webcam models.[17]

Winters stated that he pursued the work due to trauma-induced hypersexuality, and that he used the validation he got from men to medicate feelings of emptiness or worthlessness caused by his BPD. The same motivations led him to use casual sex as a self-harm behavior in his personal life, even going so far as to carry his alias into such encounters and introduce himself as "Bennett." Winters described becoming more and more disassociated from the persona over time, and getting black-out drunk to "avoid being Bennett" during hook-ups. Winters claims that in 2020, he recovered memories of experiencing child sexual abuse[3] and stopped camming upon realizing that he was retraumatizing himself.