Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religious Millenarian group based in San Diego, California, founded in the early 1970s and led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985). On March 26, 1997, police discovered the bodies of 39 members of the group who had committed mass suicide in order to reach what they believed was an alien space craft following Comet Hale–Bopp.
History
In 1972, Marshall Applewhite met Bonnie Nettles, a nurse with an interest in theosophy and biblical prophecy, and the two quickly became close friends. He later recalled that he felt like he had known her for a long time and concluded that they had met in a past life. She told him their meeting had been foretold to her by extraterrestrials, persuading him that he had a divine assignment.
Heaven's Gate, a phrase made familiar from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 29, beginning "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes", may refer to:
Heaven's Gate is the first album by Norwegian symphonic power metal band Keldian. It was released worldwide in February 2007 by American label Perris Records, and was produced, engineered and mixed by Arild Aardalen.
The album presents a sound that combines the melodic hard rock and AOR of the 1980s with a more modern power and symphonic metal influence, and has been hailed as being an original take on the genres.
The lyrics deal with the concept of space travel and the future of mankind as a space travelling species, and represent the science-fiction influences that have become a Keldian trademark. Some reviewers have commented on how this sees the band escaping the Dungeons & Dragons straitjacket that seems to trap many artists in this genre of music. The band have cited the authors Peter F. Hamilton and Dan Simmons as being among their prime influences. It is also possible to detect spiritual, and maybe even religious, undertones to Keldian's lyrics, although this is also a regular feature in the science-fiction literature they seem to draw on.
Heavens Gate was a power/heavy metal band from Wolfsburg, Germany
They started out as a band called Steeltower in 1982 releasing their first record, Night of the Dog in 1984.
Before signing with No Remorse records, they were known under the name of Carrion and several of their songs ended up re-worked on their debut album "In Control". They changed their name to Heavens Gate in 1987. Their first record as Heaven's Gate was released in 1989. They were, together with German bands Helloween, Gamma Ray, Grave Digger, Running Wild, and Rage, the pioneers in German power metal, taking their influences mainly from Helloween as well as from Judas Priest.
Heavens Gate were taken under the wing of Frank Bornemann (ELOY) and soon after releasing "In control" they were embraced by the German metal audience and had an amazing response in Japan.