Review Summary: Adema is new, completely new. It's however not much better. If you like very standard mainstream rock, this might be for you.
Aah, the much hated genre that is called nu-metal. Of course there are many people loyal to this genre, but even more people have a certain dislike to it. But why? Is it because of the fake angst that’s present in almost all of the nu-metal bands? Is it because of the lack of emotion or because of the standard formula used every time. Some of the nu-metal bands became big, very big. Linkin Park, Korn, Slipknot are excellent examples. They do indeed follow the same formula over and over again, although Slipknot songs got better quality over years. Some less known bands such as Ill Nino and Adema did the same. While Ill Nino had some Spanish influences making the sounds a bit more original than the usual nu-metal band, Adema did nothing to their sound. The vocalist who is the half brother of Jonathan Davis copied everything from Korn.
They are sellouts. Definitely sellouts. People claim that Linkin Park, Metallica or other bands have the worst sellout moves that someone could think of. Think again, Adema is worse… In their older two albums, they were standard nu-metal, standard yes, but still nu-metal. On this album they are nothing more than a crappy mainstream rock band that tries to imitate big names such as Nickelback and Lostprophets. Many songs have some arrangement that feels like it is used before, and it is.
Rise Above starts with a Lifehouse imitated riff, acoustic and some “emotional” singing. The chorus is very cliché and is copied from a classic rock band, I think. The lyrics have gone easier too, easier and weaker.
Rise Above is about who are really friends and who are not[/i]. Adema’s older albums weren’t very interesting too, but at least they had about 2 or 3 capable songs. As for this album… No, not a single song that I’d love to have on my I-Pod.
Ok, so the songs are bland. But what about the instruments? Is the band talented? No.. The guitars and bass are average to bad, the standard nu-metal things. They use some nice effects though. It makes the songs somewhat more diverse. The drummer is a li’l bit more talented than the other guys, but he doesn’t use his talent very clever. There are enough times when the drummer thinks he is the second Danny Carey and starts playing a progressive-like beat that lasts only a few seconds. He needs to know his position, a band like this should need a standard “boem tjak boem tjak” beat. Cliché, yes, but sounds much better. Then we have last and least, the vocals. Jon’s little brother forgot how to scream, yes, his screams weren’t that good, but at least he doesn’t try to be the most emotional man on earth. The song
Planets is a good example. In the chorus the vocals sound fake-emotional, just like the Backstreet Boys.
As I already said, Adema changed their sound. Some of the guitar riffs reminds me of their older work though.
Shoot The Arrows starts with the typical Adema guitar riff. Not on the tone, heavy-sounding but too high to be 100% heavy. Very sloppy, and it gets even worse.
Better Living starts with the worst tom-tom beat that’s ever recorded. It’s too much on the first count and is too robotic to make a good flow. The verse is almost the same as
Crawling from Linkin Park. Well at least the vocals, cause whereas the Linkin Park version had a good guitar part beneath it, Adema uses a sloppy rhythmical monotone riff.
At last, there could be one thing to crack up Adema’s score. Being catchy as hell. Many bands have few to none music intelligence but still make it to the top in the mainstream success. All those bands are catchy. I can easily say that Adema is one of the few bands that are not catchy while they’re supposed to. Every song sounds similar and nothing really jumps out. The chorus are on the same level as the verse, making the song sound dull, uninspiring and especially not-catchy. These guys really need to think before they pull out another album, cause if they stay on this level, there is a big change that they will not be musicians anymore.
Pros:
They are no standard nu-metal anymore
Cons:
They are crappy mainstream rock now
No song really jumps out, it’s all the same
There is barely talent to be found in Adema
Adema steals riffs, how shameful…
