Amen (band)

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Casey Chaos live at BDO 2002
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Casey Chaos live at BDO 2002

Amen (sometimes all-capitalised to AMEN) is a cross-genre hard rock band formed in 1994, continuing on today. Musically the band takes influence from various hard rock, punk rock and hardcore punk acts.

Over the years, the band have had a large number of different band members, with lead vocalist Casey Chaos remaining as the only constant member throughout. Chaos writes all the music and lyrics and performs all instruments (bar drums, since the album Amen) for studio recordings.

They are particually popular in the United Kingdom and have previously been voted "Overall Best Band in the World" and "Best Live Band in the World" by readers of Metal Hammer Magazine. Amen are known for their singles "Coma America", "Price of Reality" and "California's Bleeding".

Contents

[edit] History

Casey started his first ever band, Disorderly Conduct, as a teen. They released a vinyl "Amen" and the "Atrocity" demo, they played several gigs and became fairly well known around the hardcore punks of east America. Disorderly Conduct split up when Casey moved away from Flordia at around the age of 17 or 18. Casey Chaos had previously filled in live on bass guitar with deathrock legends Christian Death at some of the band's reunion tour shows in 1993, he played in place of original bassist James McGearty. The following year in the basement of his Los Angeles home, playing each instrument himself, Chaos released an EP under the name "Amen".

During 1995, a full length album of tracks was released by Casey under the Amen name, it was called "Slave" on Drag U La Records, initially the album was limited to 2000 copies.

[edit] Members join Chaos

Around 1998, Chaos met Paul Fig through the L.A. music scene, and they formed a partnership. In the following months and years, the band expanded including former members of the band Snot; drummer Shannon Larkin, guitarist Sonny Mayo and bassist John Fahnestock. Amen were signed by the heavy metal label Roadrunner Records.

Following the release of their eponymous album in September 1999, the band were set to tour Europe in December. This did not happen, Chaos and the band blamed a last-minute withdrawal of funding shortly prior to departure. Following this incident, Amen and Roadrunner Records went their separate ways.

[edit] We Have Come For Your Parents

Their follow up album, "We Have Come For Your Parents", was released on Virgin Records in 2001 featuring the singles and subsequent videos for "The Price Of Reality" and "Too Hard To Be Free", these received some airplay on UK television rock shows, gaining the band a fan base stronghold. The band were dropped by Virgin, rumoured to be connected to downsizing as a result of a large payout the record company has made to Mariah Carey.

[edit] Death Before Musick

Chaos was helped out by friend Daron Malakian, whom he had met while both Amen and Malakian's band System of a Down were touring Australia as part of the Big Day Out music festival. Amen were the first band signed to Malakian's EatUrMusic label, and their subsequent release, Death Before Musick, was regarded as being a mild commercial success. AMEN has since left the label, as Casey intends to release all future material through his own label.

The 2004 tour supporting the album Death Before Musick had some issues with band members, leading to 2 dates being cancelled, and the whole band leaving after tour of the USA supporting The Brides Of Destruction, and Rich Jones leaving after the DBM UK tour.

The 2005 "last time" tour, was completely postponed after Chaos suffered a ruptured Hernia, and was unable to medically play a gig for about 6 weeks.

[edit] Members

[edit] Current

[edit] Former

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Boxset

  • Pisstory, A Catalogue of Accidents/A Lifetime of Mistakes - (2005, Refuse Music)

[edit] Live

  • Gun of a Preacher Man - (Live Album, 2005, Secret)

[edit] Singles

[edit] Trivia

This caused some controversy among the Damned's fanbase, because the line-up with Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible are currently still together, and have been releasing albums recently. Where as Scabies and James had long since left the band, in James' case as far back as the 1970s.

  • Featured on the "Rise Above (24 Black Flag Songs)" album on the track "Depression".
  • Started the Amen "angry brigade" in 2006, the angry brigade is an online database/fan club, after payment fans have access to the newest music, rare mp3s, news, instrumentals, videos etc. It is rumoured the new Amen album(s) will be put up onto here first for fans to download.

[edit] External Links

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