Industrial group Skinny Puppy 'invoices' government for using songs at Guantanamo

Industrial band Skinny Puppy has presented an invoice the U.S. government for using its music to torment inmates at a prison camp for terrorist suspects.

"We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used in Guantanamo Bay prison camps to musically stun or torture people," founder cEvin Key told the Phoenix New Times. "We heard that our music was used on at least four occasions."

While the Canadian group tackles transgressive themes in a harsh musical style, Key said the thought that his music was used to torture prisoners made him feel "not too good."

"We never supported those types of scenarios," Key said. "It's kind of typical that we thought this would end up happening, in a weird way, because we make unsettling music, we can see it being used in a weird way. But it doesn't sit right with us."

The group, founded in 1982, labored for several years over its latest album, which Key said was a direct response to the government's use of their earlier recordings.

"We thought it would be a good idea to make an invoice to the U.S. government for musical services, thus the concept of the record title, 'Weapon,'" he said.

Key said the group ultimately decided to present the album as its invoice.

"We never sent it," he said. "The album cover is the invoice. The original impetus of recording the album was those two concepts: the torture and the invoice."

Watch this (NSFW) video from Skinny Puppy's latest album posted online by Jenek Artemov: