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Jam! Showbiz 'Amen recording 'violent' side-project'

On the eve of Amen's first cross-Canada tour, singer Casey Chaos is working on a "violent" side project called Amicuss that will likely feature members of Slipknot and Pantera.

"This is going to be a real violent release," Chaos says via cell phone en route to the Vancouver show that kicks off Amen's tour, Monday night. "Just take all of the elements from black metal music and take it to the fullest extreme."

Along with the metal element, Chaos promises "lots of screams and blasting drum beats", mixed with the feel of punk bands like The Ramones and Black Flag.

"It'll be full of fire and rage," he says. "This is just going to be what happens when four individuals come from various music styles and take it to the extreme."

At this point, Amicuss includes Pantera singer Phil Anselmo; Killjoy, of cult-death metal act Necrophagia; and "maybe some members of Slipknot".

"Actually, we are trying to get the drummer from (European black metal band) Marduk to play on it", says Chaos.

"I don't think mainstream music will care really about what we do with the band. Maybe some kids will pick up the record 'cause of the people involved and it will open them up to a new type of music."

Ross Robinson, who produced Amen's stellar 2000 release "We Have Come For Your Parents", will also be behind the board for Amicuss's debut.

Asked if Robinson would be putting out the record on his own I Am label, Chaos says, "We're not sure who or how it will get out yet. There are some things with Phil (Anselmo) and his label that have to be ironed out. It looks promising that it will happen and get done some time in the future, maybe the end of this year. But I'm not one that really likes to talk about the future, because it changes every minute."

Given the self-avowed "extreme" nature of the project, does Chaos see it as a risk, both for himself and producer Robinson?

"I don't care about the masses and what they think," says Chaos. "If I cared about that, I'd be in a boy band. The risk is why I am here. I like the mistakes and disorder of music.

"As for Ross, he follows his heart. He got offered a couple million dollars to do the last Limp Bizkit record, and he turned it down because he doesn't believe in it. He would have never worked with bands like Amen, At The Drive-In or Glassjaw if he didn't believe in our music. He'd be producing $3 rap-rock bands to cash in on the money."

by Adrian Bromley