Adema has gone through a lot of changes since its self-titled debut album came out in 2001: going from being unknown to selling nearly a million records, landing on the main stage at Ozzfest after just one album, getting a new record label and then a new singer. The Bakersfield, Calif.-based quartet has been through more changes in just a few years than many bands go through in their whole careers.

In 2003, Adema was dropped from Arista Records, after several big mergers of major labels that left many bands homeless. Arista itself folded a short while later. Earache Records, a British indie label famous for breaking such metal and hardcore luminaries as Napalm Death and the Dillinger Escape Plan, took interest in Adema’s moody rock and signed it in July 2004.

Bassist David De Roo said indie labels are the way to go nowadays.

“You get to see results in everything you do,” said De Roo. “People are so supportive. It’s more about the music, which is the way it should be.”

Soon after signing to Earache, Luke Caraccioli replaced former singer Marky Chavez, and former guitarist Mark Ransom left the band altogether. Caraccioli’s intense, energetic stage presence reinvigorated the band, and with its new album “Planets” released just a few months ago, the band has started a new chapter in its career.

The album is a change in form – previously lumped in with the nu-metal cadre (former singer Chavez is the half brother of Korn’s Jonathan Davis), the band flexes a new melodic muscle, playing more in the vein of Incubus or A Perfect Circle.

The first leg of their world tour in support of “Planets” starts wrapping up in Orono on Friday night at Ushuaia. De Roo said they’d played a slew of great shows on this tour so far, but that the best shows they’d ever played was back in April, when they traveled to the Persian Gulf to play for troops stationed in Iraq.

“It was a life-changing experience,” said De Roo. “How many people get to say they were in Iraq in wartime, and don’t actually have to hold a gun in their hands? We got as much out of it as the soldiers did. It was the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had, and I’ve got a gold record on my wall.”

Adema will play on Friday at Ushuaia in Orono, with openers Shortie, Soundbender, Ransom and Propel. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12, or $15 at the door, and can be bought at Bull Moose Music. For information, visit www.adema

online.com. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@

bangordailynews.net.