Adema are a group who will easily gain attention, most notably due to their familiar sound and their close connections with fellow Bakersfield, CA natives Korn. Featuring vocalist Marky Chavez, the half brother of Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, plus former members of Juice/SexArt and Videodrone, a group who were at one point signed to Korn's own record label Elementree; Adema found themselves in the middle of a bidding war, with large sums of money being tossed at them from all sides, without so much as having played a single live show together. With all the fervor, it would be expected that the band would be doing something incredibly innovative, but after a few listens, it becomes quite clear that their sound draws distinct comparisons to a polished mix of Linkin Park and Korn's recent outings, combined with some more expansive ambient programming akin to Videodrone or Orgy.

Band frontman Marky's vocals draw extremely close comparisons to that of his older sibling, rife with gritty screams that could justifiably be mistaken for Jon's by even the most discerning ear. However, when verses come into play, Marky's style is much less spastic, instead using edgy and focused croons to paint vivid pictures with easily interpreted lyrics. Guitar wise, the album is stacked with aggressive new metal riffs that dabble extensively with swirling harmonics and screeching effects pedals, while thick bass lines plow a wide path with ample growl and rumble. Meanwhile, the drums hit hard and steady the tracks with jarringly roomy thuds that are varied accordingly and go great lengths to keep the music on an unwavering course. Some basic programming is also present within the bands sound and though its inclusion is fairly moderate, it does tend to give the tracks an extra dimension, while also keeping the listeners attention level buzzing.

Adema have managed to generate quite a buzz for themselves so far and rightfully so, as their musicianship and the structures of their songs are top notch and leave little to be desired. There's plenty of hooky choruses, angst filled vocals and enough colorful nuances and subtle electronic whirrs to leave the listener in a daze. However, though the general feel of the band is more aggro than that of most of their peers, its hard not to feel that the group are playing things a bit too much by the numbers. Each song is quite packaged, almost to the point of being glossy, filled with thinly veiled lyrics and a reliance upon Korn-ish dynamics and vocal stylings that are a bit too blatant, even if the two groups are related by blood and location. As such, in the end this is really not much more than a solid modern metal debut. The group haven't reinvented the wheel, rather just added some shiny new rims to it and though its good for what it is, its really not anything that hasn't been done extensively before.