Amen (American band)

Amenis an American band formed in Los Angeles in 1994. It was founded by frontman and singerCasey Chaos(real name Karim Chmielinski)and combines elements ofpunk rock,hardcore punk,andheavy metal.Although the band experienced little success in the United States, Amen attracted a significant following in the United Kingdom. The band saw continuous changes in membership, with Casey Chaos remaining the sole original member.

Amen
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Nu metal hardcore punk alternative metal
Years active	1994–present (hiatus 2009–2014)
Labels	Drag U La Roadrunner Virgin Refuse EatUrMusic Columbia
Members	Casey Chaos John Fahnestock(a.k.a. Tumor) John King
Past members	Paul Fig Rich Jones Scott Sorry Acey Slade Jinxx Shannon Larkin Nate Manor Sonny Mayo Zach Hill Chris Alaniz Blake Plonsky Piggy D. Luke Johnson Joe Letz Duke Decter
Website	officialcaseychaos

History

Formation and debut (1994)

Amen was formed in 1994 in Los Angeles, California, after the disbanding of its frontman and singer Casey Chaos's previous band, Disorderly Conduct. The name "Amen" is a reference to the title of Disorderly Conduct's 1986 album of the same name.

The band's first album,Slave,was written and performed almost entirely by Chaos himself, with Greg Barrybauer performing guitars and keyboards on a few tracks.Slavewas recorded at Sandbox & Marquee West and mixed at Convent Studio in Los Angeles, California, and was limited to a run of only 2000 copies.

This led to lead singer Chaos being introduced to producerRoss Robinson,and the two collaborated and soon secured a deal withRoadrunner Records.

Amenand major label debut (1994–1999)

After being signed to Roadrunner Records and working with producer Ross Robinson, Chaos went on to write the songs for Amen's major-label debut, the self-titled albumAmen.For the album, the band expanded to include one-timeUgly Kid JoedrummerShannon Larkin,bassistJohn Fahnestock,a.k.a. Tumor, and guitarists Paul Fig andSonny Mayo.On September 21, 1999,Amenwas the band's major label debut. However, the band parted ways at the end of that same year due to lack of support; this resulted in their tour schedule being shortened, including the cancellation of a whole tour of Europe.

The EPComa Americawas released in theUnited Kingdomthe same year. In December 1999,Kerrang!magazine named it its Single of the Week, and called it "without a doubt the Album of the Decade."

We Have Come for Your Parentsand departure from Virgin (2000–2003)

By 2000, Amen was signed toVirgin Recordsto record their third album. Retaining the same lineup as the previous album, in May 2000 the band recorded their follow-up album atSound Cityin Los Angeles, California.We Have Come for Your Parentswas released on October 31, 2000. The name was a reference toThe Dead BoysalbumWe Have Come for Your Children.

The album became a quick success in the UK, landing them at Number 77 on the UK charts in November 2000.Two singles became hits for Amen in the UK; "Too Hard to Be Free" went to Number 72, and "The Waiting 18" reached Number 61.

The song "The Price of Reality" was released as a single before the album's release. A promotional video was created for the song that featured the same iconic styling and art direction as the album cover and artwork used by Amen during this time. In 2002, it was included on theStreetwiseDVDs atFYEand was namedMetal Hammermagazine's Video of the Year.

The success of the album would spawn years of touring in support of the album, including a 2002 re-release of the album in Australia forBig Day Out,before which Paul Fig left the band andRich Jonesjoined on guitar.

By 2002,We Have Come for your Parentswas voted the second best album of the year byRock Soundmagazine and fourth best album of the year byKerrang!.The band had also spent several months towards the end of 2001 recording their fourth album, again with producer Ross Robinson. However, Virgin Records ultimately shelved the album due to it not being "a commercial enough proposition to pursue". The band was eventually released from their contract in March 2002,but was not allowed to take the recorded material with them unless they paid $200,000 recording costs of the album, which they did not pay back due to financial struggles caused by the album's delay. In spite of fans campaigning for the release of the album, it remained unreleased.Chaos stated that the band's financial struggles during this time almost resulted in the end of the band.

During this time, Amen releasedJoin, or Die,a collection ofb-sidesand rare songs recorded by the band. The album was released through Chaos's new label, Refuse Music, and was initially limited to only 2000 copies, the first 1000 signed in Chaos's own blood. The album was sold by Amen during their 2003 tour in the United Kingdom. During this time, guitarist Sonny Mayo and bassist John Fahnestock left the band.

Death Before MusickandGun of a Preacher Man(2003–2007)

In 2003, Chaos worked withDaron MalakianofSystem of a Downon a demo tape for his projectScars on Broadway.When Malakian started his own record label EatUrMusic, an imprint ofColumbia Records,Amen became the first band he signed.The band added bassistScott Sorry,guitarist Matt Montgomery (Piggy D.) and drummerLuke Johnson,who would in turn record the band's next album, their fourth release,Death Before Musick,which was released on April 13, 2004.

The lead single, "California's Bleeding", would become Amen's highest-ranking track, reaching Number 52 on the UK charts and staying there for two weeks in April 2004.A promotional video was made featuring the band slowly getting more and more bloodied, with a second version of the video showing less blood.

During this time,Rich Jonesleft the band, andAcey Sladejoined.

The February 1, 2003, show, recorded at Manchester Academy, was released by Amen in 2004, for their first live video,Caught in the Act,onDVD.On August 2, 2005, the same show was released on CD by Snapper Records under the titleGun of a Preacher Man.

In 2005, Casey Chaos releasedPisstory: A Catalogue of Accidents, a Lifetime of Mistakesthrough his label, Refuse Music, which included a number of previously unreleased Amen songs. Also in this year, the band toured the UK, with a lineup includingJinxx,Joe Letz,John King and Nate Manor.

In 2007, Amen appeared on Season 2, Episode 14 ofThe Henry Rollins Show,where they performed their first single, "Coma America" (renamed "Coma Amerikkka" for this performance), in front of anIraqi flag.The lineup at this point welcomed back John Fahnestock,Duke Decterand new member Chris Alaniz, while still including John King. Soon after the performance, the band toured the UK. This became their most recent tour.

That same year, Chaos was voted Number 53 among the "All-Time Top 100 Underground Stars" in a 2007 issue ofHit Parader.

Return and upcoming fifth studio album (2014–present)

After being inactive for several years, Amen announced on February 26, 2014, that they would be playing the UK eventAlt-Feston August 16, 2014.The festival was canceled, but the band reunited on October 25, 2014, atKnotfest.There, they were accompanied byStone SourdrummerRoy Mayorgaand debuted a new song.This was one of several new songs recorded byRoss Robinsonwith Amen andSlayerdrummerDave Lombardofor an upcoming fourth Amen album release.

In an August 2014 interview with the UK'sRock-A-Rollamagazine, Lombardo stated that he didn't join Amen as a full-time member: "Actually, that is not all true, I simply helped the singer of Amen with his new album. He's a good friend."

As of May 2015, Amen was currently nearing completion of their next studio album, which was due in late 2015, but was not released. The new release date is presently not known. This will be the longest ever gap between studio releases by the band, with their next album being their first in over 20 years since 2004'sDeath Before Musick.

Band members

Current members

• Casey Chaos− vocals (1994–2009, 2014–present)
• John Fahnestock – bass (1999–2003, 2007–2009, 2014–present)
• John King – guitars (2005–2009, 2014–present)

Former members

• Shannon Larkin– drums (1998–2002)
• Sonny Mayo– guitars (1998–2002)
• Paul Fig – guitars (1999–2001)
• Rich Jones– guitars (2001–2004)
• Piggy D.– guitars, bass (2003–2004)
• Joe Letz– drums (2005)
• Acey Slade– guitars (2004)
• Scott Sorry– bass (2003–2004)
• Blake Plonsky – drums (2003)
• Zach Hill– drums (2001)
• Josh Hill - guitars (2001)
• Luke Johnson – drums (2003–2005)
• Jinxx– guitars (2005)
• Chris Alaniz – drums (2007)
• Nate Manor – bass (2005)
• Duke Decter– guitars (2005–2009, 2014)

Live members

• Roy Mayorga– drums (2014–2015)

Session members

• Greg Barrybauer – guitars (1995)
• Shannon Larkin- drums (1999-2008)
• Dave Lombardo– drums (2014)
• Roy Mayorga– drums (2008-2015)

Timeline

Discography

Main article:Amen (American band) discography

Studio albums

• Slave(1994)
• Amen(1999)
• We Have Come for Your Parents(2000)
• Death Before Musick(2004)

External links

• AmenatAllMusic
• Casey Chaos' official website