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Campus Life, May/June 2001
On the Front Lines
They're hard, they're heavy and they're totally sold out for Jesus. They're P.O.D. And they're taking their mosh-pit sound onto MTV — and wherever else God leads them.
by Mark Moring
 "Are you a cop?"
The guy sitting next to me at Chicago's Riviera Theater had just taken a big hit from his pipe. My sense of smell told me he wasn't smoking tobacco.
"No," I said. "But if I were, you'd be in deep weeds, wouldn't you?"
The guy half-smiled and turned back to his pipe.
Meanwhile on stage, some dude was screaming enough profanities to make Eminem proud. The guy—the lead singer for the extremely hard rock band (hed)pe—wore those creepy white contact lenses you see in scary movies when actors want to look, well, downright devilish. If he was going for the demonic look, he succeeded. Chillingly.
Hmm, I thought, am I in the right place?
Yes I was. Because in a few minutes, another band would take the stage. The band I'd come to see. The rap metal band that's rocking the secular world like no other Christian band has ever rocked it before.
The band?
Payable On Death, better known as P.O.D.
Spreadin' the Good News
A few weeks before that Chicago gig, P.O.D.'s record company had sent me a video titled, "P.O.D.—Impacting the Culture." A picture on the cover showed the band praying before a concert. Other shots showed them with Carson Daly on MTV's Total Request Live, with Bill Maher on ABC's Politically Incorrect, and with Matt Pinfield on USA's Farmclub.com—shows that reach millions of viewers each week.
The video included clips of P.O.D. sharing their faith on those shows—indeed, as the title promised, impacting the culture. When their video "Rock the Party" hit No. 1 on MTV's TRL last summer, Daly mentioned P.O.D.'s strong faith, to which drummer Noah "Wuv" Bernardo replied, "People know we're down for what we believe in."
Hardly the blatant evangelism of Billy Graham, but lead singer Sonny Sandoval took it a step further when a TRL viewer asked, "How does it feel to know that your spiritual message is getting out to everybody?"
With more than a million viewers watching, Sonny said, "That's the best feeling, no matter how many records we sell, whether we're on MTV or not. … People tell us our music makes them feel good about themselves, and that they're letting God do things in their lives. That's success for us, you know what I'm saying?"
P.O.D.'s message has reached millions more through the pages of Rolling Stone and Teen People. The band was a runaway winner in fan voting for "People of the Year" in Rolling Stone, which quoted Wuv as saying: "We come from the streets, dude, and we bring it to the kids tastefully. We don't come off all TV-evangelistic. That's how the world stereotypes Christians. We're just real people who love God." Teen People describes P.O.D. as "devout Christians whose beliefs infiltrate their aggressive brand of metal-rap."
But P.O.D. spreads the word through more than interviews. The main medium for the message is the music, especially their platinum CD, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown (a reference to the neighborhood in San Diego where Sonny, Wuv and guitarist Marcos Curiel grew up). A sampling of Southtown's lyrics:
• "We came here to rock this jam, spread His love is the master plan" ("Rock the Party").
• "I've begun to search for One giver of life. … forever I'll be with you in paradise, Zion I set my eyes. … How can you get to Heaven? Believe in Jah Jah's Son" ("Set Your Eyes to Zion"; "Jah Jah" means "God.")
• "We ain't done till this battle has been fought and won. The victory, how sweet it be, is already ours. Holding the stars is the man that carries my scars. Always the same, I wear His name with no shame" ("Tribal").
• "When the time comes, in His Glory, we will rise" ("Follow Me").
Southtown sold more than a million copies. Millions more will likely hear their new album, due out this August. Still millions more have heard P.O.D.'s music on the radio, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and, more recently, in the movie Little Nicky with Adam Sandler—who called P.O.D. "the opposite of evil" during an MTV special promoting the film. Hundreds of thousands more saw P.O.D. on tours with Korn, with Primus, and at last summer's Ozzfest concerts, sharing the stage with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera and Godsmack—some of the crudest bands in the biz, with messages and lifestyles about as far from P.O.D.'s as you can get.
Which is exactly why they were there.
Crashing Satan's Party
"We're going out there whether it's Satan's personal party or not," Sonny told me after the Chicago show. "We're going to sing our hearts out and we're going to worship God, no matter where we are. Ever since we started (almost a decade ago), we've wanted to go out and share what we've found in God and his Son."
From the beginning, that meant going to bars, to frat parties, to places where God's name was never mentioned—except in vain. And lately, it's meant doing gigs like Ozzfest and touring with bands like (hed)pe. P.O.D. wants to reach the fans that those bands draw.
They've learned some lessons along the way.
"At first," says Sonny, "we were militant about our faith, really in people's faces. We used to say, 'I don't care if they kick us off the stage, I'm gonna tell them about Jesus!' But what good did that do? They never invited us back to the club.
"Then God started to tell us, 'You don't have to fight for me. I fight for you. You just go out there and love them. Love them to me.'"
That's just what P.O.D. does. Though their sound is as hard-hitting as any secular band's, their lyrics, attitude and stage presence stand apart. And they often hang around for hours after shows, talking with fans and sharing their faith.
"Kids come up to us all the time and say, 'Hey, I'm not a Christian, but what you guys are doing is cool,'" says Sonny. "Or they say, 'Man, there's something different going on when you guys play.' I believe that's the Spirit of God touching who God intends to touch, whether it's just one person or 50,000 people."
It's clearly working. On MTV, Daly quoted one P.O.D. fan who said, "I was partying too much, getting high every day. I just didn't care about my own life. But P.O.D. made me feel like I was a part of something positive."
Another fan, a 16-year-old girl, told New Music Monthly, "P.O.D. changed my life. I found love, guidance, acceptance, and most of all I found Jesus in that music. Before, I was strung out on all kinds of drugs and alcohol. … But they showed me love."
Another fan wrote on P.O.D.'s Web site, "I had actually stopped believing in God. … then I saw P.O.D. on MTV. I didn't know they were Christian rock. I went to a record store looking for their CDs. … God is back in my life, thanks to P.O.D."
Those are the kinds of stories Sonny points to.
"God has been showing us the fruits of our work all along," he tells me. "We're not a typical Christian band. We've got dreadlocks and tattoos. We're not trying to impress parents or grandparents. We're not out to convert fans of dc Talk or Newsboys. We're trying to reach the people where they are—people like us, the bottom dwellers. That's the life we know.
"We live in a world that hates God. But we're servants of God, and we're going to serve these kids. God can use us down on the front lines."
Sonny holds one hand to his chest and says, "This is the kingdom of heaven." He holds his other hand far out in front of him: "This is the world." Then he moves his hand from his chest to a point about halfway between the two extremes: "And this is the fence."
He leans forward, and his voice becomes so passionate, it's palpable:
"P.O.D. has always been on that fence," says Sonny, "bent over at the waist, trying to reach people. We've got people holding our feet on one side, chaining us down in the kingdom. That way, we can reach over the fence and grab these people—by their hair, by their fingers, by their bootstraps, whatever—and bring them into the kingdom of heaven.
"That's what God has called us to do."
I didn't know whether to shout "Amen!" or give Sonny a high five.
But this much I knew for sure: P.O.D. is the real deal. And they are changing the world.
Wanna know more about P.O.D. and its fans, who are known as Warriors? Check out www.payableondeath.com.
Crank It Up!
P.O.D. isn't the only Christian band banging out heavy tunes with a message of faith. If you're looking for more ear-blasting music to mosh to, you'll want to check out . …
by Chris Lutes
Blindside, A Thought Crushed My Mind (Solid State). This Swedish band blends hardcore (Deftones) with touches of melodic metal, and delivers deeply personal messages about letting go of sin and living in the light of God's love; by the way, only one tune on this 11-song CD is sung in Swedish!
Extol, Undeceived (Solid State). Old-school death metal (Cannibal Corpse), a smattering of '80s-style arena rock, and eerie imagery straight from a Frank Peretti novel—all of which lead to one incredible sonic rollercoaster trip that brings you to a safe landing and a satisfying conclusion: God alone is the Giver of Life and the hope of your salvation.
Living Sacrifice, The Hammering Process (Solid State). Classic metal blends with harsh vocals (as in Pantera meets Metallica), setting a somber mood for staccato poetry focused on letting God shape, mold and "hammer" you into spiritual maturity.
Project 86, Drawing Black Lines (Solid State). Slightly cryptic lyrics contrast the beauty and wonder of faith with the ugly, destructive nature of sin—delivered to your ears with a rapcore intensity that'll remind you of Rage Against the Machine.
Spoken, Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell (Metro Vox). In the metal style of Fear Factory, singer Matt Baird shifts between melodic vocals to guttural screams—and offers passionate songs of prayer and worship.
3rd Root, A Sign of Things to Come (Solid State). Powerful apocalyptic imagery depicts a fallen world that's forsaken its holy Creator—all packaged in rapcore metal similar to P.O.D. and the Deftones. |
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.
May/June 2001, Vol. 59, No. 9, Page 20
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