Payable on Death (stylized as P.O.D.) is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Their Christian faith is an important part of their music.

They have released seven studio albums and have sold over 10 million records worldwide. Over the course of their career, the band have also received three Grammy Award nominations, contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks and toured internationally. With their third studio album, ''The Fundamental Elements of Southtown'', they achieved their initial mainstream success; the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2000. Their following studio album, ''Satellite'', continued the band's success with the hit singles, "Alive" and "Youth of the Nation", pushing it to go triple platinum.

History

Early years (1991–1998)

Shortly after the release of ''Payable on Death Live'', Essential Records offered P.O.D. a $100,000 recording contract, but Sonny Sandoval spoke for them all when he politely but firmly told band manager Tim Cook to decline the offer because, “God has a bigger plan for P.O.D.” In 1998, A&R; rep John Rubeli from Atlantic Records caught a show at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip, and the band was quickly signed to a major-label deal. At a time after the 1999 album, "School of Hard Knocks" was featured on the soundtrack for ''Little Nicky'' while both "Southtown" and "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)" appeared in the movie. All three music videos endured heavy play on MTV2 and the songs were rock radio hits. The album went on to become RIAA certified platinum.

On the 11th September 2001 P.O.D. released their fourth studio album, ''Satellite''. The album's first single, "Alive", went on to become one of MTV's and MTV2's top played videos of the year. The video's popularity, as well as the song's positive message, helped the song become a huge modern rock radio hit and it was Grammy nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002.

The album's second single, "Youth of the Nation", was influenced in part by the school shootings at Santana High School, Columbine High School, and Granite Hills High School. It was Grammy nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2003. The 2002 singles, "Boom" and "Satellite", also became quite popular. In addition, the concluding track of the album, "Portrait," was Grammy nominated for Best Metal Performance in 2003. ''Satellite'' went on to become RIAA-certified triple platinum. The author of ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music'' has described P.O.D. as "One of the biggest success stories in recent Christian music."

Line-up and label changes (2003–2006)

On November 4, 2003, P.O.D. released their fifth studio album, ''Payable on Death'', which saw the group shift from their well known rapcore sound to a darker, more melodic metal sound. The album was hit with controversy due to its "occult" cover, which led as many as 85% of Christian bookstores across the United States to ban the album. With the help of the album's hit single "Will You" and "Change the World", it went on to sell over 520,000 copies and was certified Gold. Sometime after the tsunami in Asia, many singers, musicians, and actors/actresses, including Sonny and Wuv, participated in the recording of, "Forever in Our Hearts", with all proceeds going to benefit the tsunami relief.

P.O.D.'s sixth studio album ''Testify'' was slated for a December 2005 release, but was pushed back to January 24, 2006. On November 15, 2005, P.O.D. released ''The Warriors EP, Volume 2'', which featured demos from the upcoming album, to help build up the fans' anticipation for the pending January release. The album's first single, "Goodbye for Now" (with a vocal tag by a then-unknown Katy Perry) went on to become a #1 video on MTV's TRL, along with having a solid radio presence, it also became the band's unprecedented 4th number one video on Total Request Live. The second single off the album, "Lights Out" was a minor hit, but was featured as the "official theme song" to WWE's Survivor Series on November 27, 2005. In another contribution to WWE, they performed fellow San Diego native Rey Mysterio's theme song "Booyaka 619" at ''WrestleMania 22''. To promote their latest album, P.O.D. went on a nationwide tour called the "Warriors Tour 2: Guilty by Association", which began in April, and included the bands Pillar, The Chariot and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster.

On August 11, 2006, P.O.D. announced in their online newsletter that they had left Atlantic Records. On September 16, 2006, P.O.D. announced that they have teamed up with Rhino Records to release a greatest hits record simply titled, ''Greatest Hits: The Atlantic Years'', which was released on November 21, 2006. They shot a music video for their single "Going In Blind", one of the two new songs they included in the tenth album, and they had meetings with various record labels to begin working on new material for an album they hoped to release in mid 2007.

In a statement made by the band's manager on their MySpace page, it was officially announced, on December 30, 2006, that Jason Truby had left the band. They had said "God worked it out because Jason decided to leave the band the same day Marcos asked to rejoin." Marcos performed with the band for the first time since his departure on the 2006 New Year's Eve episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Marcos was scheduled to appear at this show before returning, which is why he was able to do it literally the day after he was announced as being back in the band.

Recent years (2007–present)

On June 1, 2007, at the Rockbox in San Diego, the band performed and revealed a new song entitled "Condescending", along with another new song performed on June 16, 2007, at the Journeys Backyard BBQ tour entitled "Addicted". They also revealed the title of their new album to be ''When Angels & Serpents Dance''. On August 4, 2007, the band played at Angel Stadium of Anaheim's annual Harvest Crusade where they revealed a new song entitled "I'll Be Ready", originally thought to be entitled "When Babylon Come For I," for a crowd of 42,000.

The album cover was officially revealed on December 10, 2007. The title track was released for free download on their site in January 2008. The first single "Addicted" was released on February 19 and did well on the Mainstream Rock chart peaking at number 30. The album was released on April 8, 2008 entitled ''When Angels & Serpents Dance''. On July 28, 2008, the group played a free public performance at the Orange County Choppers headquarters in Newburgh, NY, with OCC The Band opening. The band also played on August 16, 2008 at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim's annual Harvest Crusade. During September 2008 P.O.D played alongside Redline, Behind Crimson Eyes, Alter Bridge and Disturbed as part of the Music As A Weapon tour 2008 in Australia. In November 2008, P.O.D. started their first tour in South America with five shows in Brazil, one in Chile and one in Colombia. P.O.D. then went on hiatus after touring in South America. This was confirmed when they canceled the 2009 European tour with Filter.

On December 16, 2009 Wuv posted a video of him and guitarist Marcos Curiel stating that P.O.D. is now in the process of recording their next album due to come out sometime in 2010. In September 2010, Curiel discussed the plans and direction for the new album, saying that the musical style will take the band "back to our roots. A little bit of hip hop, a little bit of punk rock, or reggae". He also added that Howard Benson, who produced the band's ''The Fundamental Elements of Southtown'', ''Satellite'' and ''Payable on Death'' albums, would produce the record and that recording would begin in December. On October 21, 2010 Sonny Sandoval posted a video on the Whosoever's YouTube channel stating that the new record will be released in 2011, and that he will be posting many videos of P.O.D. in the studio to keep the fans updated. On January 9, 2011 a 22-second video of P.O.D. playing an untitled song was posted on YouTube. Sonny updated his Facebook page where he was asked questions by fans of the new album. His response concerning the release was "tryin to make it happen this year" and when asked if any other artists would be featured on the album he responded "we have some artists in mind."

In March and April 2010, P.O.D. played an 11-date South America tour, visiting countries such as Argentina and Colombia. In 2011, the band will be visiting countries where the group has not previously performed, such as Bolivia.

In May 2011, P.O.D. Headlined the first annual Spring Jam Fest. Pieces of the performance were featured on CNN. P.O.D. then headlined on the second stage at Rock on the Range a week later. They are scheduled to appear on the Rock of Allegiance tour in the summer of 2011 with Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, Crossfade, RED, Drive A.

On July 25, 2011, P.O.D. released their new song "On Fire" as a free download on their official website. This song is expected to appear on the band's new album, tentatively due in the spring of 2012.

Style and influences

;San Diego Music Awards

''Note: Album and single-specific awards and nominations are listed under their respective articles.''

References

External links

Category:American alternative metal musical groups Category:American nu metal musical groups Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Chicano rock musicians Category:Christian metal musical groups Category:Christian rock groups from California Category:Heavy metal musical groups from California Category:Musical groups from San Diego, California Category:Musical quartets Category:Rap metal musical groups Category:Reggae metal musical groups

Rice wanted to make the album without the backing of a major record label, believing if he signed such a deal it would compromise his future work, forcing him to move in directions he did not wish to.

Cover versions

Film and television

Track listing

#"Delicate" – 5:12 #"Volcano" – 4:38 #"The Blower's Daughter" – 4:44 #"Cannonball" – 5:10 #"Older Chests" – 4:46 #"Amie" – 4:36 #"Cheers Darlin'" – 5:50 #"Cold Water" – 4:59 #"I Remember" – 5:31 #"Eskimo" – 15:57 (5:07) #*"Prague" at 7:07 to 13:00 (hidden track) #*"Silent Night" at 14:09 to 15:57 (hidden track) (sung by Lisa Hannigan)

Release history

Personnel

References

Category:2002 albums Category:Albums produced by Damien Rice Category:Damien Rice albums Category:English-language albums Category:Vector Recordings albums Category:Debut albums