Death Before Musick is the fourth studio album by American rock band Amen. It was released in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2004, and in the United States on May 18, 2004, through eatURmusic and Columbia Records.[7][11] The album continues the hardcore and punk genres of previous albums and draws on heavy metal as influence. Following this album, the band went on a lengthy hiatus and, as of April 2024, what marked the album’s 20th anniversary, the band have still not released their follow up album.

Death Before Musick
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 5, 2004
Recorded2002–2003
Genre
Length42:52
Label
ProducerCasey Chaos
Amen chronology
Join, Or Die
(2003)
Death Before Musick
(2004)
Pisstory, A Catalogue of Accidents/A Lifetime of Mistakes
(2005)
Singles from Death Before Musick
  1. "California's Bleeding"
    Released: April 3, 2004 [1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [2]
Blabbermouth.net4/10[3]
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles7.5/10[4]
Chronicles of Chaos9/10[5]
Drowned in Sound7/10[6]
Kerrang![7]
MusicOMH(positive)[8]
Ox-Fanzine7/10[9]
SpinB−[10]

The album spawned the hit single and promotional video for "California's Bleeding." Drummer Luke Johnson, who joined the band around the time of the album's release and tour, appeared with the band in the photo shoot in the album's booklet but did not play on the album. This ended up being their last release in over 18 years as the band went on hiatus and had several personnel changes.

On April 19, 2010, Death Before Musick was reissued in the United Kingdom by IronBird Records. The reissue features four bonus tracks and a new interview with Casey Chaos.[12]

Track listing

edit

All tracks by Casey Chaos.

No.TitleLength
1."Liberation for..."1:36
2."Hello (One Chord Lovers)"3:06
3."California's Bleeding"2:38
4."The Abolishment of Luxury"2:33
5."Money Infection"3:16
6."Westwood Fallout"2:45
7."Oblivion Stereo"3:00
8."Please Kill Me"3:23
9."EXTERMINATE!"3:06
10."We Got the Bait"2:16
11."Neutron Liars"2:38
12."Sorry, Not Sorry"3:08
13."Bring Me the Heads"2:46
14."Fuck in LA"2:41
15."The Summer of Guns"4:00
Total length:42:52
Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
16."Many Deaths Of..."0:51
17."Bye USA"3:04
18."Daycare Tourniquet"3:31
19."Exit Masses Noose"3:00

Credits

edit

Personnel

Additional musicians

Production

  • Daron Malakian – executive production, A&R
  • Matt Chidgey – mixing
  • Mike Fraser – mixing
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Jon Pikus – A&R
  • Freddy Sipowicz – assistant mixing
  • Joe Barresi – mixing

Charts

edit
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[14] 95
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 105

References

edit
  1. ^ "california's bleeding | full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  2. ^ Death Before Musick at AllMusic
  3. ^ "Death Before Musick". Blabbermouth.net. April 2, 2004. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  4. ^ Popoff, Martin (May 17, 2004). "Amen - Death Before Musick". bravewords.com. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Smit, Jackie (April 19, 2004). "CoC : Amen - Death Before Musick : Review". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  6. ^ Lancaster, Nick (April 25, 2004). "Album Review: Amen - Death Before Musick". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Myers, Ben (April 3, 2004). "Rated: Chaos theory". Kerrang!. No. 999. pp. 46–47.
  8. ^ Bansal, Vik. "musicOMH.com | album reviews | Amen - Death Before Musick". MusicOMH. Archived from the original on April 23, 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  9. ^ Rothkehl, Ingo (June 2004). "Review". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  10. ^ "Breakdown". Spin. Vol. 20, no. 6. June 2004. p. 108.
  11. ^ BraveWords. "AMEN - New Album Due In May". bravewords.com. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  12. ^ BraveWords (February 25, 2010). "AMEN - Death Before Musick To Be Reissued In The UK With Bonus Tracks". bravewords.com. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  13. ^ Blabbermouth (February 17, 2005). "GODSMACK Drummer Defends AMEN Frontman". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  14. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. April 17, 2004. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  15. ^ "Chart Log UK: A - Azzido Da Bass". www.zobbel.de. Retrieved November 22, 2022.