P.O.D. have finished their next studio album, and with an Australian return locked in for Good Things Festival this December, the timing suddenly feels particularly useful.
The follow-up to 2024’s Veritas was recorded with producer Will Yip at Memory Music Studios in South Philadelphia, marking the first time P.O.D. have made an album outside California (per Blabbermouth).
Speaking recently with FemMetal, guitarist Marcos Curiel revealed that working with Yip had been floating around the band’s orbit for some time. The producer’s fingerprints stretch across hardcore, punk, indie and hip-hop, making him a particularly interesting match for a band that has spent decades refusing to stay inside one genre.
‘Just because you join a band and have some success, you don’t stop being a fan,’ Curiel said. ‘And we were able to do a record with him, and we’re really super proud of it.’
P.O.D. aren’t interested in repeating themselves
Curiel described the still untitled record as carrying some threads from Veritas, while pushing the band further forward.
‘I think there’s a lot of threads coming from Veritas. It’s kind of an extension, but it’s also, I would wanna say a growth.’
Bassist Mark ‘Traa’ Daniels went further, suggesting the album’s concept might catch listeners off guard.
‘It’s definitely P.O.D., but I think it’s gonna definitely cause people to wanna think. ‘Cause it’s not as surface-y as it it sounds. But it’s an amazing record.’
That sounds fitting for P.O.D., whose entire existence has been built around collisions. Metal, hardcore, punk, reggae and hip-hop have been tangled through their music since long before genre hopping became an easy marketing hook.
The sessions themselves were remarkably quick. Vocalist Sonny Sandoval previously revealed the band finished 13 songs during roughly two weeks in Philadelphia, while Curiel experimented with seven string guitar across several tracks.
Sandoval also suggested Yip pushed his vocals into unfamiliar territory, describing the resulting material as both ‘heavy’ and ‘extremely beautiful’.
P.O.D. are heading back to Australia
We don’t have to wait long to reconnect with P.O.D. live, the band are booked for Good Things Festival, joining Limp Bizkit, Simple Plan, Spiritbox, Polaris, Bad Religion, Alexisonfire, Speed, The Devil Wears Prada and plenty more.
Good Things hits Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Friday, December 4th, Sydney Showground on Saturday, December 5th and Brisbane Showgrounds on Sunday, December 6th.
Find out more and pick up your tickets here.
Whether any of this new material makes its way into those Australian sets remains to be seen. With the album finished and the band clearly itching for people to hear it, though, December suddenly has another interesting question hanging over it.
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