2001 was where the nu-metal genre was hitting its peak and here comes a band out of Bakersfield, California that was pretty influenced by nu-metal giants Korn, yet they would have their own distinct sound, and that band is Adema. Adema did play a show at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, California in 2017, and a show at the House of Blues in San Diego, California this past December. It’ll be interesting to see what 2018 has in store for Adema.
The band saw some solid success in 2001 and 2002 with their big singles “Giving In” and “The Way You Like It” off of their self-titled debut album. I remember rocking out to “Giving In” and seeing it on MTV’s Total Request Live television program and I remember Mark Chavez, the vocalist for Adema, sounding somewhat like Jonathan Davis of Korn, which stands to reason considering they are half-brothers. Both videos currently have a combined ten million hits on YouTube. “Freaking Out” would also receive significant airplay. Adema would also earn a spot on the mainstage for Ozzfest and be involved in the Music As A Weapon, SnoCore, and Projekt Revolution tours. Adema’s self-titled album would sell over one million copies worldwide.
As a way of saying thank you for going gold in the United States and platinum worldwide, Adema released “Insomniac’s Dream” EP, which would feature a cover of the song “Nutshell” by Alice In Chains and the single “Immortal”, which would be featured on the Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance video game. Their second full length album “Unstable” would debut at No. 43 on the Billboard 200 and would sell almost 400,000 copies worldwide. In September 2004, Mark Chavez would quit the band and Luke Caraccioli from Rewind Yesterday would join the band and Adema would release “Planets” in 2005.
The video and single for the title track would be featured in the movie “Cry Wolf” and they would also tour with Nikki Sixx’s band Brides Of Destruction, and they would play for United States military troops overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates.
Luke Caraccioli would leave the band and Adema recruited Bobby Reeves from LEVEL to be the frontman and the band would sign on with Immortal Records, they would release the album “Kill The Headlights”. Since then, Mark Chavez and original guitarist Mike Ransom joined the band, Chavez left in 2011 to pursue a solo project. “Topple The Giants” was released in 2013.
The original lineup of Mark Chavez on vocals, Tim Fluckey on guitars, Dave DeRoo on bass, Kris Kohls on drums, and Mike Ransom on guitars have since returned and Adema has played several West Coast dates in 2017. It’ll be interesting to see if Adema will return to make some new music.
Madness To Creation’s Take: With the resurgence of nu-metal, it’ll be interesting to see if Adema will capitalize on that sound, I did appreciate Adema for adding a bit of pop in “The Way You Like It”, in one song, and having “Giving In” represent a darker sound while it showcased in the lyrics some personal demons being fought and Mark Chavez does a solid job of bringing those issues to light to make it relatable to those that might be battling through those same issues. Overall, Adema was a breath of fresh air bringing some rock music back in the MTV TRL days. I felt that with “Planets” they kind of lost their identity, but at the same time, I can always appreciate trying something new and not be forced inside a box that us critics and fans alike like to put bands in. Adema is a solid rock band with Madness To Creation rating them a 7 out of 10 stars.
Find Adema at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/officialadema
