Casey Chaos | |
|---|---|
 Casey Chaos in 2002 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Karim George Chmielinski |
| Born | (1965-10-09)October 9, 1965 Trenton, New York, U.S. |
| Died | December 20, 2024(2024-12-20) (aged 59) Laurel Canyon, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1982–2024 |
| Formerly of |
|
Karim George Chmielinski (October 9, 1965 — December 20, 2024), known professionally asCasey Chaos, was an American musician, best known as the lead singer ofAmen. His music encompassed a number of styles in thepunk andmetal genres.
Karim Chmielinski was born inTrenton, New York, on October 9, 1965.[1][2][3] When he was seven, his parents separated and Casey moved with his mother toMelbourne, Florida. By age ten, Casey was touring professionally as a skater.
In 1982, fellow skateboarderDuane Peters played Casey a tape by the bandBlack Flag. Casey became enough of a fan that he started corresponding withHenry Rollins and his friendIan MacKaye.[3][4] After seeing Black Flag for the first time live, Casey's life was forever changed, and he decided to start his own band.
He created Casey and the Skate Punx, and recruited bassist Scot Lade, drummer Bill Erwin, and his childhood friend from New York, guitarist Ken Decter (akaDuke 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 asAtlanta 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 albumAmen.[9] That was followed a year later by the six-track EPAtrocity.
In 1990, Chaos and Decter moved to Los Angeles, changed their band name to Amen. Chaos metRikk Agnew, who invited him to sit in as bassist on a concert by his bandChristian 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 albumSlave, 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 andSonny Mayo on guitar, John Fahnestock (aka John Tumor) on bass, andShannon Larkin on drums.
The band was eventually signed toRoadrunner Records, who in 1999 released a split EP withMisfits,[14] the five-track EPComa America,[15] and the band's debut album,Amen.[16] To support the album, Amen went on a tour of North America withSlipknot,Machine Head, andCoal Chamber, among others.[17] Amen parted ways with Roadrunner and they were quickly picked up by This Is An I Am Recording!, theVirgin Records sub-label of producerRoss Robinson, and went into the studio to record the albumWe Have Come for Your Parents. In 2001, this album was released and received positive reviews.[18] After the release ofWe Have Come for Your Parents, Roadrunner re-releasedAmen 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 ofSystem of a Down had founded his own label throughColumbia Records called EatUrMusic Records. Malakian and Chaos had met at the 2002Big Day Out festival in Australia and had become friends. Chaos put together a new lineup, recruiting bassistScott Sorry, drummerLuke Johnson, and guitarists Matt Montgomery (akaPiggy D.) andRich Jones. Amen was the first band Malakian signed and the label released Amen'sDeath 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 that included previously unreleased Amen and Disorderly Conduct track in addition to remixes of previously released songs. The four-CD boxed set was a limited edition release of 2,000 copiesPisstory: A Catalogue of Accidents, a Lifetime of Mistakes.[22]
In 2007, Amen were invited to perform onThe Henry Rollins Show, a weekly talk show hosted by musicianHenry Rollins onIFC. 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 withKreator at theDamnation Festival hosted at theUniversity 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 withDave Lombardo on drums.[23] Due to former commitments, the album recording was not completed with Robinson and Amen went on to perform atKnotfest in support ofSlipknot.[24] In late 2019, Chaos went back into the studio to continue work on the latest Amen album in the UK before COVID-19 put a hold on the recording. The album ultimately remained unfinished following Chaos' death in December 2024.
Chaos collaborated withTwiggy Ramirez and members ofQueens of the Stone Age on a project called Headband, who recorded music but never released it.[25]
Chaos produced an EP forThe Kinison,[26] working with the band off the back of a demo they passed Chaos when he was touring with Amen.
Chaos founded the bandScum withblack metal iconsSamoth and Cosmocrator fromZyklon,Bård Faust fromEmperor, andHappy Tom fromTurbonegro. Scum eventually released an album, 2005'sGospels for the Sick,[27] which was nominated in the metal category at Norway's 2006 Alarm Awards.
In 2005, Chaos recorded a song forNo End in Sight, an album byThis 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 bandSick of It All to fulfill its European tour commitment.
Chaos was part of the supergroup Ross Robinson assembled to write the soundtrack for theHouse of Shock documentary. The documentary is yet to be released.[29]
In 2012, Chaos was arrested for allegedly driving his car into 15 parked cars inStudio City, California. In June 2019, he was arrested again for allegedly assaulting a woman at his Los Angeles home.[30]
Chaos died from a heart attack in hisLaurel Canyon home on December 20, 2024, at the age of 59.[31] He was said to have been suffering from underlying heart issues, poor circulation and high blood pressure just before his death.[32] He was cremated three days later at theValhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood.[32]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
