• achtergronden
• DE 7EVEN
• video's
• agenda

ernaast

Head2Head Tour - Skindred, Soil & Adema: This Is How We Do It, Nu-Metal Style

Nu-metal triple pack of varying quality.
14 april 2002, Melkweg, Amsterdam (NL)

Tekst: Tessa Halm

Publicatiedatum: 01 mei 2002

BMG has organised a European tour with a couple of their metal acts. This record company isn't known for their metal acts so this could be interesting. It's the 14th of April, and the tour comes to the Melkweg in Amsterdam.
First band to hit the stage is Skindred. When the lights go down and the intro music starts up we get a shock. It's a musical assault by Montell Jordan's This Is How We Do It. Some of us start to wonder if we're in the right place. Is this a metal night or have we all been fooled and could this be some R&B evening we stumbled into? After a few bewildering seconds the guys from Skindred walk onto the stage and we know we're all right. The music fades out and singer Benji 'Da Dread' Webbe starts cranking up an old-fashioned fire engine siren. After a few ear-busting blasts it's exit-the-siren and enter-the-music.
Overall, Skindred's sound can best be described as ragga-metal. This mixture of reggae, ragga, and metal is, nevertheless, the only thing that makes Skindred stand out in the mass of modern (nu)-metal bands. These days there are just way too many mediocre bands in the metal/nu-metal genre. If a new band isn't particularly talented, they need a gimmick or something unique to make them stand out and get noticed. Skindred opted for their ragga-metal sound. Although not unique, it does add a bit of spice and soul to the nu-metal genre.
During parts of the set it seems as if these Brit-metallers (who, accidentally, sound more American than English) are trying to be the next Sevendust. In other songs the ragga-element is more pronounced and it's obvious that these songs are Skindred's strong points. If the record company were to release one of these ragga-metal songs, Skindred could probably even score a small Top-40 hit.
After Skindred, it's BMG's hardest act. Soil exploded onto the Chicago metal scene a few years ago, creating a bidding war between the various record labels. However, these guys haven't always had it easy. They started out as most beginning bands: having to beg for gigs and sleeping in the garage where the guys rehearsed their early material. Nowadays, though, Soil is already quite big in the States, and their next step is conquering Europe. Judging from this first performance in the Netherlands they will definitely succeed.
If you listen closely to their album Scars, you'll notice singer Ryan McCombs isn't one of the most happy people on earth. His lyrics are sad, pissed-off, and aggressive. And so is the music.
When Soils gets on stage tonight at the Melkweg, they look ready to tear apart any motherfucker who looks at them sideways. Next to the tall and extremely mean-looking bass player, Tim King, singer McCombs is a small guy. So small, even, you wonder how the hell he gets his voice to sound so huge. It's always a bit weird when a singer's voice fuels a certain expectation of his posture and the expectation turns out to be completely off-the-mark. This happened to a lot of people when they saw Life Of Agony play live and discovered Keith Caputo is really only a tiny person. However, the overall impression McCombs makes is that of a formidable and intense guy. And although the rest of the band members are doing their job and not leaving any stone unturned in their search for the right groove, Ryan McCombs is such a captivating singer, we all but forget about the rest of the band. It takes some serious unfocus-ing to watch Soil as a band and not as a single person. But let's not forget we're music lovers and we came here to enjoy some good and loud music. Soil is up for it. Unfortunately, they aren't very well known in Holland yet, so the biggest part of the audience does not respond hugely to the songs. However, I for one, will be right up front when Soil comes back to Holland to play at Ozzfest. All things considered Soil is definitely a hard-rocking live act. The music is loud and aggressive, but the small singer with the long blond hair is the eye-catcher.
Finally, it's the band most of the audience has come to see. It's the band fronted by Jonathan Davis' stepbrother, Marky Chavez. The fact that he has a famous relative and that Adema come from Bakersfield, California, puts the band in rather a tough spot. Chavez and his bandmates need to convince a lot of people that they're a band in their own right and that they should not be put aside as just another Korn-clone. If you've listened to Adema's self-titled album you may be half-prejudiced: The music's not that original (but it really isn't that bad either). And yes, Chavez does sound a bit like Davis here and there. So what to make of them? Well, tonight they'll have to perform live to a rather small audience. In the United States Adema has already made a name for themselves and they play to a much larger audiences than the one here tonight. At least it's clear that this small audience has come for Adema. Skindred and Soil were a bonus for these fans. Fans, it must be said, that appear to be more in their teens than in their twenties. Maybe this comes in part because singer Chavez seems more like a teenager himself than anything else. The tattoos and angst-ridden lyrics we know from the album don't do anything to dispel the impression of a young age. Until he opens his mouth to sing, that is. Because once Adema gets into their set, it's clear we're looking at a fully-grown band here. Chavez suddenly develops real stage presence and his voice isn't half-bad either. Next to this rather intense singer, the guitar player is a bit of a sight. His looks resemble those of a scarecrow and his actions those of a wild maniac. At the back of the stage the drummer seems to be doing his best to avoid working up a sweat. While the music is mostly loud and hard, the drummer appears to be keeping his calm but still manages to make exactly the right amount of noise. It kind of makes you wonder what he's capable of when he really starts bashing away at his kit.
Although Adema's music isn't as aggressive as Soil's, they do convey more sincerity and more power. Obviously the audience agrees, because the mosh pit soon goes completely ballistic. After a few songs, though, the pit quiets down when Chavez tells us the next song is one that the American audiences haven't heard that much yet — always a good sign. The song is Speculum (yes, it is on the album) and starts out slower than most of Adema's songs. It's not completely clear what the song is about, but the main emotion is clearly sadness. The music is compelling and drags us along through what must be one of Chavez' lowest points in his life. After Speculum we're treated to another goody. It's a song Adema has written while on their European tour. The song doesn't even have a working title yet.
Then it's onto Skin, one of the best songs of the album. This is where Chavez demonstrates his skill of sucking the audience right into Adema's songs. When he sings I'll Shed My Skin For You, we all believe him and feel his passion. Along with the performance of their single Giving In, this has to be the high point of this evening. When the band members leave the stage and the main lights come on, the conclusion has to be that Adema is a good and honest rock band and all prejudices can be thrown overboard.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/adema/head2head-tour-skindred-soil-adema-this-is-how-we-do-it-nu-metal-style/1516/
Meer Adema op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/adema