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Live Review
by SashaS
16-4-2002
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| Ryan McCombs of SOiL |
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Live: Adema
Astoria, London
Monday, April 15, 2002
Adema and SOiL’s brands of metal-for-masses differ in attitude
There is a fair contrast between the two bands sharing the stage tonight: Adema are more of the modern, nu-metal sounding troupe, SOiL come from the older-skool; Adema prefer to deal in the performing standards of the moment – hi-NRG blasting while SOiL’s choice is relying on power-chords without expecting you to sweat-out all the ills of society in one session.
Otherwise, it is pedal-to-the-metal rocking from both outfits. SOiL’s debut album (proper), ‘Scars’, pays its lip-service to the rocking greats of the past, from Black Sabbath to (thrash-days of) Metallica, with a touch of cyber-metal and an industrial seasoning. The Chicago-based fivesome take the old formula and infuse it with a huge doze of contemporary attitude.
Fronted by charismatic Ryan McCombs, a native of Indiana actually – with a hairdo slightly reminiscent of Axl W. Rose that makes him look the very metal – owes his vocal approach to people like Chris Cornell (former Soundgarden and ex-Rage Against The Machine 2 warbler) and Layne Staley (of dormant Alice In Chains) that adds a grunge-edge to their half-an-hour of pure adrenaline pumping.
Riffage, noise, commitment-level, songs that are greeted with constant chanting of ‘SOiL! SOiL!’, steadily places the band on the road to solvency as ‘Halo’ has already amply indicated. The show’s finale gets a stage-invasion by the Adema members who streamline toilet rolls all over the stage and wrap instruments, with each member singing along! Camaraderie not seen in the shark-infested music world for a long, long time…
Adema waste no time on introduction and go for a jugular. This is the nu-skool metal with all the trimmings, explored by the likes of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, which is done to perfection. Adema are all about celebrating rather than innovating but do it with such a charm that only a hardcore cynic would dismiss them offhand. The focus of onstage energy is Mark Chavez (half-bro of Korn’s Jon Davis) with his spiked-up coiffure that, no disrespect, makes him look like a member of a boy-band. (Sure, he’s that cute.)
Mix of lyrical seriousness with uplifting music content – ‘Giving In’, ‘Do What You Want To Do’, ‘’Everyone – causes reception to be different to the SOiL’s: no chanting or air-punching but definitely a maddening crowd in the stalls that is a complete moshing! No-one is standing still, this is just a turbulent sea of humans, pushing, bouncing off, bashing bodies all over. And yet, from my vantage point the show looks a tad similar to Papa Roach’s that locates it firmly into the present.
Adema are already inside the hall of global popularity with SOiL bound to follow in shortly.
SashaS
16-4-2002
Adema’s album ‘Adema’ is available now on Arista
SOiL’s album ‘Scars’ is available now on J Records
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