Adema Planets CD

Hate Control/Hate Eternal/Adema: Kris Kohls, Dave DeRoo, Luke Carraccioli, Tim Fluckley.
Personnel: Luke Carraccioli (vocals, percussion, background vocals); Rio Life (vocals); Tim Fluckley (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, piano, percussion, background vocals); Dave DeRoo (bass guitar, percussion, background vocals); Kris Kohls (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Rio Life.
Recording information: Fattracks; Pig Studios, Oildale, CA.
Photographer: Alex Solca.
Arranger: Adema.
The third album by Erik Rutan's post-Morbid Angel project Hate Eternal may be the singer/guitarist's purest achievement, if not his best. I, Monarch is 40 minutes of distilled essence of death metal, with Rutan's Cookie Monster vocals declaiming crypto-religious S&M lyrics over his own hypnotically repetitive riffs and flashy, technically excellent solos, while a close-to-inaudible bassist and the superhuman blastbeat drummer Derek Roddy hurtle along at near-impossible speeds behind him. Those who love this sort of thing will be in awe, not least because Rutan manages to include a few actual tunes (or at least refrains) alongside the jackhammer throb. Those whose tolerance for death metal is lower should nonetheless at least stay for the end; the instrumental "Faceless One" is something of a breakthrough, and the best song on the album by some distance. After nine tracks that whiz past in a death metal blur, Rutan slows the tempo here incrementally, but just enough to allow himself and Roddy the breathing room to show off hitherto speed-obscured aspects of their playing. Roddy in particular comes off exceedingly well; he may be the best drummer in the entire subgenre. If Rutan chose to explore this variation on what's becoming a well-worn theme, Hate Eternal might be on to something interesting. ~ Stewart Mason
For a region so rich in sunshine and skin, Southern California is filled with angry young men. When Adema unleashed its brutal but melodic brand of alternative metal in 2001, fans of Staind, Korn, and Tool rose to the occasion, buying enough copies of the self-titled debut to see it achieve gold status. By 2004, lead singer Mark Chavez -- he's the younger half-brother of Korn's Jonathan Davis -- had left the group, a move that split fans in half. New vocalist Luke Caraccioli is more subdued than Chavez. Utilizing a fluid croon that dutifully conveys emotional resonance but shies away from the screams and explosive outbursts that defined the band's previous work, Caraccioli further cements the band's trek from beefy nu-metal doomsayers to angst-filled, mid-tempo, Evanescence-esque (say that five times in a row) radio rockers. While killer riffs and tight melodic choruses do occur ("Shoot the Arrows" and "Enter the Cage"), the bloated, 16-track run time of Planets renders the good stuff less effective. ~ James Christopher Monger
Many bands would likely be thrilled to have the relative of a famous musician on board. In the case of Adema, counting singer Mark Chavez (the half-brother of Korn's Jonathan Davis) among its ranks often only served to pigeonhole the group, with some critics labeling the combo as no more than Korn lite. Switching both labels and vocalists, however, allowed Adema to deliver 2005's PLANETS free of any baggage. Apparently this change worked wonders, as this disc contains some of the group's strongest material and musicianship. The California combo has retained its Staind-meets-power-pop vibe, but added a wealth of other influences. The title track is more genuinely melancholy than angst-ridden, and "Enter the Cage" borrows elements from Scandinavian black metal, mixing Gregorian chant-like instrumental swells with a melodic lead-bass pattern. "Sevenfold" takes some cues from Balkan folk music, and features what sounds like a rocked-out bouzouki solo. An imaginative and progressive next step, PLANETS finds Adema coming out of a transitional period on top.
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