Hardcore metalheads Godsmack hit the Southland tonight in support of their "Faceless" CD. Playing to a packed house at the Universal Amphitheatre they were supported by opening act Adema and surprise guest Population One which is Nuno Bettencourt's new project. With little fanfare Population One came out and rocked with 40 minutes of straight-up guitar driven rock. Nuno was on top of his game tonight with total mastery of the guitar and the project is so new that I don't really have any information on it.

Following next was Adema who brought on their hardcore music. Fronted by the highly energetic and animated Mark "Marky" Chavez, this band tore through its set whipping up the crowd into a pretty good frenzy. I'm told that someone in the band is related to a member of Korn, which may explain the similarity in sounds. Purists of the may be able to tell the difference but not myself. No disrespect but the music was fairly basic as was the stomp and grind of the stage show. The audiences opinion is what counts, not mine, and they responded with tremendous enthusiasm starting the first mosh pit of the night.

Headliner Godsmack made a dramatic entrance and ripped into a full two-hour set of their pounding rock hits. Drawing material from all their highly successful past CD's they played nothing but hits and mixed these with new songs that are sure to start getting some serious airplay. This is the third time that I have seen this band, the first being a mid-day show at Ozzfest, the second time was headlining at the Palace and the third being tonight's show. Each show the band has progressively gotten tighter and the shows being much more professional. Tonight they were smoking and hit all their marks and the highlight of the show had to be the drum-off between singer Sully Erna and the drummer. Sully drove out on a motorized drum kit and matched their drummer lick for lick proving that he is quite the drummer. Godsmack put on a hell of a show tonight proving them to be one of today's premiere hardcore rock bands. To find more about this kick ass band then go check out their website at www.godsmack.com, or better yet go buy their new CD "Faceless".