Soil (band) - History

History

Soil was originally formed in 1997 by three of four members of death metal act Oppressor, joined by guitarist of another death metal act Broken Hope - as a side project to their other bands. Ryan McCombs was later recruited for vocal duties.

The original lineup of the band was Ryan McCombs (vocals), Shaun Glass (Broken Hope), Tom Schofield, Tim King, and Adam Zadel (all three ex-Oppressor).

Soil's first three releases, Soil (EP), El Chupacabra (EP) and their debut album Throttle Junkies, failed to break the band into the mainstream. It was around this time that all the members of Soil left their other bands to focus on Soil as their main project.

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, responsible for signing such acts as Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen, 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, Scars, released September 11, 2001. This achievement was aided by the popular singles "Halo" and "Unreal" which gained the band exposure on MTV.

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 Ryan McCombs announced his departure from the group to be with his family, forcing the band to cancel scheduled shows. New York-based vocalist AJ Cavalier was introduced on November 15, 2004 as McCombs' replacement. On July 20, 2005, McCombs was confirmed to be the new singer for Drowning Pool.

On September 21, 2005, Soil signed with New York-based independent label DRT Entertainment. Their album True Self was released on May 2, 2006. The album leaked onto P2P and BitTorrent 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 and to focus on his own band Dirge Within.

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, Staind), Ulrich Wild (Deftones, Incubus) and Soil, with Dave Fortman (Mudvayne, Evanescence) 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.

The band reunited with original vocalist Ryan McCombs for a 12-date co-headlining UK tour with Puddle of Mudd in October 2011 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Scars. Former Staind drummer Jon Wysocki also joined Soil for the 2011 UK Tour.

Sony Music UK has announced that Scars has been certified silver in the UK with sales in excess of over 60,000 units.

Soil added several US tour dates throughout 2012. The trek will be the band's first in the US since original frontman Ryan McCombs rejoined the group.

SOiL's first ever DVD entitled "Re-LIVE-ing The Scars" was released May 8, 2012. The DVD/CD combo was recorded live in London, England during the bands sold out 2011 UK tour and features the first live show with vocalist Ryan McCombs in 7 years. The DVD also includes bonus footage and photo gallery.

The band has begun production for their new album slated for a 2013 release.