Casey Chaos

Karim George Chmielinski (born October 9, 1970;

died December 21, 2024), known professionally as Casey Chaos
Casey Chaos, was an American musician, best known
as the lead singer of Amen. His music has encompassed
a number of styles, including hardcore punk, death rock
and nu metal.

Early life
Karim Chmielinski was born on October 9, 1970, in
Trenton, New York.[1][2][3] When he was seven, his Casey Chaos in 2002
parents separated and Casey moved with his mother to
Background information
Melbourne, Florida. By age 10 Casey was touring
professionally as a skater. Birth name Karim George Chmielinski
Born October 9, 1970
Trenton, New York, U.S.
Career Died 21 December 2024
Genres Hardcore punk · punk rock ·
alternative metal · nu metal ·
1982–1990: Disorderly Conduct punk metal
In 1982, fellow skateboarder Duane Peters played him a Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
tape by the band Black Flag. Chmielinski became Years active 1982–present
enough of a fan that he started corresponding with
Member of Amen
Henry Rollins and his friend, Ian MacKaye.[3][4] After
seeing Black Flag for the first time live, Casey's life was Formerly of Christian Death · Disorderly
Conduct · This Is Menace ·
forever changed. He then decided to start his own band.
The Head Band · Scum
He created Casey and the Skate Punx, and recruited
bassist Scot Lade, drummer Bill Irwin (drums) and his
childhood friend from New York, guitarist Ken Decter (aka Duke Decter). They later changed the band
name to 'Disorderly Conduct'.
They began writing songs and playing the Florida punk scene. Between his powerful voice and the
band's high-energy presence, they became well-known and popular, with people traveling from as far
as Atlanta to catch their shows.[5] Between 1984 and 1986, their songs were included in three punk
compilation albums.[6][7][8] In 1986, they independently released the album Amen.[9] That was
followed a year later by the six-track EP Atrocity.

1990–present: Amen
In 1990, Chaos and Decter moved to Los Angeles, changed their band name to 'Amen'. Chaos met
Rikk Agnew, who invited him to sit in as bassist on a concert by his band Christian Death.[10] He then
asked Chaos to sing on his new solo album,[11] and play bass on Christian Death's new album,
Iconologia, for which Chaos also wrote or co-wrote three songs.[12]

Chaos then wrote and recorded the album Slave, for which he played all of the instruments.[13] He
released it under the Amen name in 1994 and began to put together a new lineup: Paul Fig and Sonny
Mayo on guitar, John Fahnestock (aka John Tumor) on bass and Shannon Larkin on drums.

The band was eventually signed to Roadrunner Records which, in 1999, released a split EP with
Misfits,[14] the five-track EP Coma America[15] and their debut album, Amen.[16] To support the
album, Amen went on a tour of North America with Slipknot, Machine Head and Coal Chamber,
among others.[17] Amen parted ways with Roadrunner records and they were quickly picked up by
This Is An I Am Recording!, the Virgin Records sub-label of producer Ross Robinson and went into
the studio to record the album 'We Have Come For Your Parents'. In 2001, this album was released
and was met with critical acclaim.[18] After the release of 'We Have Come For Your Parents'
Roadrunner re-released Amen due to the popularity of the band and press that they were getting.

In March 2002, Chaos announced that Amen had been dropped from Virgin after internal
restructuring of their recording division.[19][20] Amen had just recorded 20+ tracks for their new
album and Virgin refused to release them. Amen went onto tour whilst they searched for a label to
release new material under.

In 2004, Daron Malakian of System of a Down had founded his own label, through Columbia Records,
called EatUrMusic Records. Malakian and Chaos had met at the 2002 Big Day Out festival in Australia
and had become friends. Chaos put together a new lineup, recruiting bassist Scott Sorry, drummer
Luke Johnson, and guitarists Matt Montgomery (aka Piggy D.) and Rich Jones. Amen was the first
band Malakian signed and the label released Amen's Death Before Musick in 2004, along with a video
for the single "California's Bleeding".[21] The band then embarked on a world tour in promotion of this
release.

In 2005 Chaos released a compilation box set. This included previously unreleased Amen and
Disorderly Conduct track in addition to remixes of previously released songs. The 4-CD boxed set was
a limited edition release of 2,000 copies Pisstory, A Catalogue of Accidents/A Lifetime of Mistakes,
which was a .[22]

In 2007, Amen were invited to perform on The Henry Rollins Show, a weekly talk show hosted by
musician Henry Rollins on IFC. Amen performed three songs, two of which aired live: "Coma
America" and "Liberation", with the third "Another Planet" release in IFC.com. The performance aired
internationally on July 13, 2007, on the 14th episode of Season 2. Between the two songs, Chaos made
political death threats and it became the first of the show's episodes to have material cut by IFC,
although it ran the full performance on its website. Amen then went on a full tour of Europe including
a co-headline slot with Kreator, at the Damnation Festival hosted at the University of Leeds. Amen
booked a full European tour.

In 2014, Chaos went back into the studio with Amen to begin recording a new album with Ross
Robinson with Dave Lombardo on drums.[23] Due to former commitments the album recording was
not completed with Ross Robinson and Amen went on to perform at Knotfest in support of
Slipknot.[24] In late 2019 Chaos went back into the studio to continue work on the latest Amen album
in the UK before Corona Virus put a hold on the recording.

Since 2002
Chaos collaborated with Twiggy Ramirez and members of Queens of the Stone Age on a project called
Headband, who recorded music but never released it.[25] Chaos was also a founding member of the
band Scars on Broadway.

Chaos produced an EP for The Kinison,[26] working with the band off the back of a demo they passed
Chaos when he was touring with Amen.

Chaos then founded the band Scum, with black metal icons Samoth and Cosmocrator from Zyklon,
Bård Faust from Emperor, and Happy Tom from Turbonegro. Scum eventually released an album,
2005's Gospels for the Sick,[27] which was nominated in the metal category at Norway's 2006 Alarm
Awards.

In 2005, Chaos recorded a song for No End In Sight, an album by the band This Is Menace.[28] Amen
was then meant to tour with the band, but all dates were canceled when Chaos had to undergo
emergency surgery to repair 'multiple ruptured hernias'. When he got out of hospital, Amen joined the
band Sick of It All to fulfill its European tour commitment.

In 2006, Casey Chaos received a Grammy Award certificate in recognition of his participation "as a
songwriter on the Grammy Award-winning recording "B.Y.O.B."[29]

Chaos was part of the supergroup Ross Robinson assembled to write the soundtrack for the House of
Shock documentary. The documentary is yet to be released.[30]

Discography
Albums

With Disorderly Conduct:

Amen (1986), Dirge Records

With Amen:

Slave (1994), Drag-u-la Records

 Amen (1999), Roadrunner Records
We Have Come For Your Parents (2000), Virgin Records
Death Before Musick (2004), EatURMusic/Columbia
Gun Of A Preacherman (2005), Snapper Music/Secret Records
Solo:

Pisstory: A Catalogue Of Accidents, A Lifetime Of Mistakes (2005), Refuse Music

With Scum:

Gospels For The Sick (2006) (Dogjob/Candlelight Records)

EPs (with Amen)

Uncontrolled Music For A Controlled Society (1999), Roadrunner Records

Coma America (1999) Roadrunner Records
Frontline Volume 3 – The Singles Club (1999, split with Misfits), Roadrunner Records
Propamenda (2000), Virgin Records
The Price of Reality (2000), Virgin Records/This Is An I Am Recording!
Too Hard To Be Free (2000), Virgin Records
The Waiting 18 (2001), Virgin Records/This Is An I Am Recording!
California's Bleeding (2004), EatURMusic/Columbia
Singles (with Amen)

"Coma America" (1999), Roadrunner Records

"The Price Of Reality" (2000), Virgin Records
"Too Hard To Be Free" (2000), Virgin Records
"The Waiting 18" (2001), Virgin Records
"California's Bleeding" (2004), EatURMusic/Columbia
Soundtrack credits

Faust: Love of the Damned (2000, film)

Final Destination (2000, film)
Atop the Fourth Wall (2012, TV series)
House of Shock (2013, documentary)[30]
One Hit Wonderland (2015, TV series)
Roll Red Roll (2018, Documentary)
Compilation inclusions

Disorderly Conduct – I'm Buck Naked! (1984), BCT

Disorderly Conduct – Flipside Vinyl Fanzine 2 (1985), Gasatanka Records
Disorderly Conduct – There's A Method To Our Madness (1986), Phantom Records
Amen – Launch (2000, video compilation), Launch Magazine[31]
Casey Chaos – Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three (2002),
Sanctuary Records
Amen – Join Or Die (2003), Refuse Music
Amen – Here's the Poison (2016), Secret Records
Guest appearances

Rikk Agnew – Turtle (1992), Triple X Records

Christian Death – Iconologic (1992), Triple X Records
Christian Death – Sleepless Nights Live 1990 (1993), Cleopatra Records
Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf (2002, as guest DJ), Interscope Records
This Is Menace – No End In Sight (2005), PSI Records
Christian Death – Death Club (2005, compilation), Cleopatra Records
Ministry / Paul Barker – Fix (2012), Gigantic Pictures[32]
DVDs

Amen – Caught In The Act (2004, live) Secret Records

Christian Death Featuring: Rozz Williams – Live (2005), Cleopatra Records[33]
Ministry / Paul Barker – Fix (2012), Gigantic Pictures

References
1. "Facebook" (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10214566611933690&set=ecnf.1073074382).
Facebook ("Thank You All For The Amazing Birthday Wishes ! From The Ole' Bill."). October 9,
2018. Archived (https://archive.today/20230512182853/https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10
214566611933690&set=a.10200294633263143) from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved
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2. Stingley, Mick (June 2, 2004). "KNAC.COM - Features - Interview With Amen Vocalist C" (https://w
ww.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=3052). www.knac.com. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
3. Chaos, Casey; Socks, Matt (March 28, 2015). "How Black Flag Changed My Life – by Casey
Chaos" (https://www.loudersound.com/features/how-black-flag-changed-my-life-by-casey-chaos).
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4. "Interview with Metalhammer" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140601093959/http://www.officialca
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5. Suren, Bob (May 15, 2015). Crate Digger: An Obsession with Punk Records, pg 49 (https://books.
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-Theres-A-Method-To-Our-Madness). discogs.com. Discogs. October 31, 1986. Retrieved
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7. "Various – I'm Buck Naked!" (https://www.discogs.com/release/2491145-Various-Im-Buck-Naked).
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8. "Various – Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Vol 2" (https://www.discogs.com/release/532633-Various-Flipside
-Vinyl-Fanzine-Vol-2). discogs.com. Discogs. October 31, 1985. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
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10. "Christian Death* – Sleepless Nights – Live 1990" (https://www.discogs.com/release/2110239-Chri
stian-Death-Sleepless-Nights-Live-1990). discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
11. "Rikk Agnew Turtle" (https://www.allmusic.com/album/turtle-mw0000623009/credits).
allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
12. "Christian Death – Iconologia" (https://www.discogs.com/master/19986-Christian-Death-Iconologi
a). discogs.com. Discogs. October 31, 1993. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
13. "Amen – Slave" (https://www.discogs.com/master/326461-Amen-Slave). discogs.com. Discogs.
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14. "Misfits / Amen – Frontline Volume 3 – The Singles Club" (https://www.discogs.com/release/19621
23-Misfits-Amen-Frontline-Volume-3-The-Singles-Club). discogs.com. Discogs. October 31, 1999.
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discogs.com. Discogs. October 31, 1999. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
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ave-Come-For-Your-Parents). discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
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369917). nme.com. NME. March 20, 2002. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
21. "Amen – Death Before Musick" (https://www.discogs.com/master/113571-Amen-Death-Before-Mu
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discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
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End-In-Sight). discogs.com. Discogs. April 25, 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
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30. Hartmann, Graham (January 3, 2013). "Members of Slayer, Exodus + More Collaborate...Jan.
2013" (https://loudwire.com/slayer-exodus-more-collaborate-house-of-shock-documentary-soundtr
ack/). Loudwire. loudwire.com. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
31. "Various – LAUNCH" (https://www.discogs.com/release/1377993-Various-LAUNCH). discogs.com.
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33. "Christian Death Featuring: Rozz Williams* – Live" (https://www.discogs.com/release/1015944-Chr
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External links
Casey Chaos official website (https://web.archive.org/web/20060304224415/http://www.officialcas
eychaos.com/)[usurped](defunct)
Official YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/amenbrigade)

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