Soil (often stylized as SOiL) is an American

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

band that was formed in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois in 1997. After some independent releases, the band was the first rock group signed to

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG's record labels in late 2008 at the end of their merger. It was distribut ...

and achieved mainstream success with their major label debut, ''

Scars SCARS or S.C.A.R.S. is an acronym that may refer to: * SCARS (military) (Special Combat Aggressive Reactionary System), an American combat fighting system * Severe cutaneous adverse reactions Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) are a gr ...

'', in 2001. The J Records second album, '' Redefine'', was released in 2004 and the band embarked upon a worldwide tour to follow. In late 2004, frontman

Ryan McCombs Ryan McCombs (born July 16, 1974) is an American musician best known for being the vocalist of alternative metal bands Soil and Drowning Pool. Career Soil (1997–2004, 2011–present) McCombs was discovered by Soil through a compilation CD ...

left the group. He would go on to become the new vocalist of

Drowning Pool Drowning Pool is an American rock band formed in Dallas, Texas, in 1996. The band was named after the 1975 film '' The Drowning Pool''. Since its formation, the band has consisted of guitarist C.J. Pierce, drummer Mike Luce and bassist Stevie ...

the following year. The band recruited ex-Diesel Machine vocalist A.J. Cavalier as its new singer and released two more studio albums (''

True Self The true self (also known as real self, authentic self, original self and vulnerable self) and the false self (also known as fake self, idealized self, superficial self and pseudo self) are a psychological property dualism, dualism conceptualized ...

'' and '' Picture Perfect'') through independent labels in 2006 and 2009 respectively. Soil continued to tour worldwide and achieved strong independent success. The band had brief line-up changes until fall 2011. Soil reunited with Ryan McCombs on a tour commemorating the tenth anniversary of their landmark album, ''Scars''. The line-up is currently completed with fellow original members Tim King (bass) and Adam Zadel (guitar), who are the only two members to have stayed with the band from its inception until present. The band released their sixth studio album, ''Whole'', in 2013. They released a greatest hits album titled ''Scream: The Essentials'' in 2017.

History

Beginnings and early releases (1997–2000)

Soil was originally formed in 1997 by three of four members of

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

act

Oppressor Oppressor is a technical death metal band from Chicago, Illinois, which formed in 1991 and disbanded in 1999. They released three albums. Three of the band's members went on to form alternative metal band Soil. History Oppressor was started ...

, joined by guitarist of another death metal act

Broken Hope Broken Hope is an American death metal band from Chicago, Illinois. History Broken Hope was founded in 1988. They were known as an accomplished mid-paced style death metal band with low-pitched growling vocals. As a band, they were active for ...

– as a side project to their other bands. Ryan McCombs was later recruited for vocal duties. The original line-up of the band was Ryan McCombs (vocals), Shaun Glass (Broken Hope), Tom Schofield, Tim King, and Adam Zadel (all three ex-Oppressor). The band got its name from the Entombed song " Rotten Soil" by opting to simply drop the "Rotten" part and stick with "Soil". Soil released two independent EPs, ''

Soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

'' (on Olympic Records) and '' El Chupacabra'' ( on M.I.A.). In 1999, Soil released their debut album ''

Throttle Junkies ''Throttle Junkies'' is the first studio album by American rock band SOiL. It was released on May 18, 1999 via MIA Records. It included tracks previously released on the band's EPs ''Soil'' and '' El Chupacabra''. While it did not chart in the ...

'', however, M.I.A closed down two months after its release. It was around this time that all the members of Soil left their other bands to focus on Soil as their main project.

Rise to popularity and McCombs' departure (2001–2005)

With the song "Halo" gaining major radio attention, labels began a bidding war for a deal with Soil. The band would ultimately be signed to J Records by music industry legend

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

, responsible for signing such acts as

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, who stated that "you're gonna be my only rock band for now. You're going to be a priority, and I want to break this band." Soil finally experienced mainstream success with the major label debut, ''

'', released September 11, 2001. This achievement was aided by the popular singles "Halo" and "Unreal" which gained the band exposure on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. The success resulted in the band winning

Metal Edge ''Metal Edge'' was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of glam metal's success. While its sister publication, ''Metal Maniacs'' focused more on extreme ...

magazine's 2001 Readers' Choice Award for "Next Big Thing". Soil worked on their third album all throughout 2003. In 2004, the band released their second major label album, '' Redefine''. The group toured for a year in support of the album and returned home to begin writing follow up material and finish various live dates. Shortly after, vocalist

announced his departure from the group to be with his family, forcing the band to cancel scheduled shows. New York–based vocalist A.J. Cavalier, previously of World In Pain and Diesel Machine, was introduced on November 15, 2004, as McCombs' replacement. On July 20, 2005, McCombs was confirmed to be the new singer for Drowning Pool.

Cavalier era (2005–2010)

On September 21, 2005, Soil signed with New York–based independent label

DRT Entertainment DRT Entertainment was a New York City based independent record label founded in March 2004 by Derek Shulman, Ron Urban, and Theodore "Ted" Green. The label is defunct. The label advertised itself as an "artist friendly hard rock music company f ...

. Their album ''

'' was released on May 2, 2006. The album leaked onto P2P and

BitTorrent BitTorrent is a Protocol (computing), communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a Decentralised system, decentralized manner. The protocol is d ...

sites on March 4, almost two months before its official release. Soil embarked upon a very heavy worldwide touring schedule to promote the release. In November 2007, Shaun Glass parted ways with the band, citing personal and musical differences. On October 20, 2009, the album '' Picture Perfect'' was released via Bieler Bros Records worldwide, except in Europe, where it was released by AFM Records. ''Picture Perfect'' was produced by Johnny K (

Disturbed Disturbed may refer to: Books * ''Disturbed'', a 2011 novel by Kevin O'Brien (author) Film and TV * ''Disturbed'' (film), a 1990 film starring Malcolm McDowell * "Disturbed" (''Numb3rs''), a 2009 episode of ''Numb3rs'' * "The Disturbed", a 20 ...

Staind Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and ...

), Ulrich Wild (

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...

Incubus An Incubus () is a demon, male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have Sexuality in Christian demonology, sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many c ...

) and Soil, with

Dave Fortman Dave Fortman (born July 11, 1967) is an American record producer and musician. He is the guitarist for rock band Ugly Kid Joe, and has done production work for bands such as Godsmack, Superjoint Ritual, Snot (band), Snot, Watership Down (band), ...

(

Mudvayne Mudvayne is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Peoria, Illinois, Peoria, Illinois, in 1996. Known for their sonic experimentation, face and body paint, masks and uniforms, the band has sold over five million records wor ...

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

) handling mixing duties. It was promoted with the lead single "Like It Is". In January 2010, "The Lesser Man" was announced as a second single. On July 23, 2010, vocalist A.J. Cavalier, and drummer Tom Schofield announced their departure from the band. Vocalist Jordan Lee and drummer Mike Tignino were announced as fill-ins for scheduled live dates.

McCombs' return (2011–present)

The band reunited with original vocalist Ryan McCombs for a 12-date co-headlining UK tour with

Puddle of Mudd Puddle of Mudd is an American post-grunge band formed in Kansas City, Missouri in 1992. The band has sold over seven million albums. Their major-label debut, '' Come Clean'' (2001), spawned the single " Blurry", which peaked at number 5 on the ...

in October 2011 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ''Scars''. Soil added several US tour dates throughout 2012. The trek was the band's first in the US since original frontman Ryan McCombs - at this point also the singer of

- rejoined the group. Soil's first ever DVD, ''Re-LIVE-ing the Scars'', was released May 8, 2012. The DVD/CD combo was recorded live in London during the band's 2011 UK tour and features the first live show with vocalist Ryan McCombs in seven years. Soil's sixth studio album, '' Whole'', was released on August 16, 2013 (worldwide) and August 20, 2013 (North America). The album was funded through

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

. The band released a music video and single for "Shine On" on June 25, 2013. The band released the compilation album ''Scream: The Essentials'' on September 15, 2017, via Pavement/AFM Records. It features the band's hits along with alternate versions and unreleased material, and includes a cover of "

Gimme Some Lovin' "Gimme Some Lovin" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, ''Rolling Stone'' included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest Son ...

" by

The Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British blues and R&B influenced rock band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). ...

. As of 2021, Soil has been working on new material for the follow-up to ''Whole''. In July 2022, the band announced they would be releasing their new album, ''Play It Forward'', on August 26. The album consists of cover songs that inspired the band members throughout the years. On June 28, 2023, the band announced their new album "Restoration", which would release July 21. The album features re-recordings some of their biggest songs.

Band members

;Current *

– lead vocals (1997–2004, 2011–present) * Adam Zadel – lead guitar, backing vocals (1997–present) * Tim King – bass, backing vocals (1997–present) * T.J. Taylor – drums (2017–present) ;Former * Shaun Glass – rhythm guitar (1997–2007) * Tom Schofield – drums (1997–2010) * A.J. Cavalier – lead vocals (2004–2010) * Jordan Lee – lead vocals (2010–2011) * Mike Tignino – drums (2010–2011) * Jon Wysocki – drums (2011–2012; died 2024) * Mitch Gable – drums (2012–2017) File:Adam Zadel (22471611103).jpg, Adam Zadel File:Tim King (22469991354).jpg, Tim King File:Drowning Pool at Fort Wainwright 2010 Ryan McCombs 2.jpg, Ryan McCombs File:Thumb 21160088-16BA-46E2-A605-8274E164C378.jpg, T.J. Taylor

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2001) * '' Redefine'' (2004) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Picture Perfect'' (2009) * '' Whole'' (2013) * ''Play It Forward'' (2022) * ''Restoration'' (2023)

Awards and nominations

Metal Edge Readers' Choice Awards , - , 2001 , , SOiL , , Next Big Thing , ,

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soil 1997 establishments in Illinois American alternative metal musical groups American nu metal musical groups DRT Entertainment artists Hard rock musical groups from Illinois Heavy metal musical groups from Illinois J Records artists Musical groups established in 1997 Musical quartets from Illinois