Following on from their euphoric UK tour with Skindred, platinum-selling rock juggernaut P.O.D. has announced their 11th album, Veritas, will be out as of 3rd May via Mascot Records, and its been described as “one of the most anticipated albums of the year”.
But then, as vocalist Sonny Sandoval said, “Everybody lies to themselves! Just don’t believe it.” You, however, can take that as announcement that they have a new single available digitally, alongside and accompanying video you can check out here at RAMzine, going by the title ‘Lies We Tell Ourselves‘.
“As hate is to love, death is to life, lies is to veritas (truth). This song resonates the struggle and hope which keeps us from truly believing that the ‘lies within ourselves’ become a reality. Our struggle. Our truth,” said guitarist Marcos Curiel.
Tracks from the album have already picked up spins on BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show and BBC Radio 2 as well as playlisting on Kerrang! and Primordial radio. Kerrang! caught the band on tour with Skindred and said, “It’s little surprise that ‘Boom’, ‘Youth Of The Nation’ and Alive go down a storm. All three hail from the same album, 2001’s Satellite.” They went on “New cuts ‘Drop’ and ‘Afraid To Die’, from forthcoming album Veritas, are similarly well received and pack the same almighty choruses, powered by the convulsing momentum of their frontman, the seemingly ageless Sonny Sandoval.”
The new single follows ‘I Won’t Bow Down’, ‘Drop’ (featuring a vicious vocal cameo from Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe) and ‘Afraid To Die’ (featuring Jinjer vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk) – Those tracks combined have garnered seven million streams, and you can read more about them and check out videos for them at RAMzine here.
“We can’t wait for you all to hear the new album in its entirety,” guitarist Marcos Curiel announced. “We’ve put so much heart and soul into this recording. We are extremely proud of it. We hope to see all your beautiful faces in city near you. Thank you for your unwavering support. We love and appreciate you all.”
Vocalist Sonny Sandoval added: “There’s a first time for everything and the writing and recording process of this record will definitely not be the last. We might’ve just created our best album yet!”
“This will most likely be one of my favourite P.O.D. records,” said bass player Traa Daniels. “There are some songs on this record that are so different from one another, but still have that P.O.D. So Cal flavour.”
P.O.D. has been a band — and a vital one at that — for more than 30 years. But ask the members what still inspires them after all this time, and they’ll tell you they still operate as if they’re perpetual underdogs. With every new album they release, with every show they play, these musical lifers still feel they have something to prove. “We’re still here and we’re still creating some of the best music we’ve ever made,” said Curiel. “When it comes to heart, grit It’s this mindset, this unrelenting grit that has long defined the platinum-selling P.O.D. and continues to do so as they march proudly into the next era of their long-winding journey of a career. Now, nearly five years removed from their previous studio album, Circles, that to date has been streamed more than 50 million times and spawned the Top 25 hit ‘Listening For The Silence’, the band returns in a major way with Veritas, the eleventh P.O.D. LP.
Lovers of all forms of music, P.O.D. have incorporated everything from rock to reggae, hip-hop to punk in their art. “We flirt with so many different styles,” offered Curiel. This go-round, however, P.O.D. decided to get back to the basics. “We made a conscious decision to keep it in the rock zone this time,” said Sandoval adding that there’s “a certain bounce and a certain two- step” to the 11 tracks that comprise the album. “These songs are a throwback to me and remind me of the raw unbridled energy of classic South San Diego P.O.D.,” offered Daniels.
Written over the course of several years, with the band typically writing a tune or two at a time in L.A. with The Heavy, Veritas is described as a “cannon-shot of adrenaline to the ear drums”. And for a band that has never shied away from wearing their heart on their sleeve, it’s said to be one of the most emotionally inspired albums of the band’s career.
The word Veritas — that translates as truth from the Latin — defined the emotional core of the album, and the album art further encapsulates that message: to Curiel, the Veritas album cover, that pictures a child with its eyes blacked out, signifies “a culmination of innocence and dark hidden truths.
As they look to the future with Veritas as their anchor, P.O.D. are amped about where things go from here. Well, that, and extremely grateful. “30 years ago there wasn’t this end goal,” said Sandoval. “It was always about the next record, the next show, the next tour. We’ve always enjoyed where we’re at. We’re still hustling and we’re still working hard.”
You can pre-order Veritas here – It features the tracks: ‘Drop’, “I Got That’, ‘Afraid To Die’, ‘Dead Right’, ‘Breaking’, ‘Lay Me Down’, I Won’t Bow Down’, ‘This Is My Life’, ‘Lies We Tel Ourselves’, ‘’We Are One (Our Struggle)’ and ‘Feeling Strange’.
