• Casey Chaos - vocals
• Rich Jones - guitar
• Sonny Mayo - guitar
• John "Tumor" Fahnestock - bass
• Shannon Larkin - drums
• Paul Fig - guitar (1994-2001)

Amen's music - a distillation of hardcore attitude, gothic self-hatred, and nihilistic death-metal grind. Oh, and some great tunes, as well.

As metal group Snot self-destructed after the death of its singer, Amen were born, taking the former group's drummer, guitarist and bassist and fronted by the voracious Casey Chaos. While often shunned by critics in their home country, Amen's arrival onto the European metal scene at the turn of the century has had a significantly more impressive impact. Embraced by 'true' metal fans who had grown tired of the endless stream of substanceless US bands exported under the name Nu-metal, Amen are unusual in that their lyrics are socially conscious and their music is proudly devoid of the instant pop hooks that sold Limp Bizkit et al to the masses. In 1998, they signed to Roadrunner offshoot I Am and released Amen in 1999 and We Have Come For Your Parents the following year, also notably appearing on the NME tour to much acclaim, alongside Brit acoustic acts Starsailor and Alfie.

Just as things were starting to look up for the band, in 2002 they became one of the first acts to suffer from the EMI Group cull, finding themselves pennyless and without a deal. On top of this guitarist Paul Fig decided to call it a day and was replaced with former Black Halos member Rich Jones. Amen were left with a £200,000 ransom to buy back their unreleased Ross Robinson-produced album from Virgin.

Back on track, the band signed to System Of A Down guitarist Daron Malakian's new imprint in May 2003, scheduling a new album for release in September. Tom Edwards

Releases

• Death Before Musick - album, out 05/04/2004 on Eat UR Music. 1 review (read/post)
• The Price of Reality - single, out 11/12/2000 on Virgin. 1 review (read/post)
• We Have Come For Your Parents - album, out 22/11/2000 on Virgin. 1 review (read/post)

Past events

• Fri 11 May at Mansfield The Mill. (post review)
• Wed 09 May at Cambridge Junction. (post review)
• Sat 20 Jan at Nottingham Rock City Basement. (post review)
• Thu 31 May at Milton Keynes Bowl. 1 review (read/post)
• Sat 09 Dec at Manchester Academy 3 (formerly Hop & Grape). 1 review (read/post)

News

• 06/07/2007: Reading Festival Update
• 19/03/2004: Ikara Colt on tour? Amen to that...
• 03/06/2003: SOAD: Infiltrate 'The Man'
• 16/04/2003: Amen: Rock London on Easter Monday (Win Entry!)
• 22/01/2003: Wildhearts: "Wanna be part of history? Well, now's yer chance."
• 12/12/2002: Amen: Chaos In the Uk
• 14/08/2002: Carling Weekend News: Additions
• 22/07/2002: AMEN return to Camden
• 05/07/2002: Full Pistols @ The Palace line-up
• 19/09/2001: Queens man teams up with Chaos

Features

• 26/01/2003: DiS Gig Round-up: February '03

Links

• Amen - official merchandise from swagshop.com
• Refuse Amen - official site

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