P.O.D. – VERITAS
Release Date: 3rd May 2024
Label: Mascot Records
Order/Stream
Genre: Nu-Metal, Alternative, Rock.
FFO: Sevendust, Papa Roach, Flyleaf.
Review By: Ross Bowie
P.O.D are back with their 11th album Veritas, which for those Spanish speakers out there will know means “truth”. It’s a fitting title for a band who are now 25 years into their career and have always stayed true to themselves. For better or worse, P.O.D. has never strayed far from the formula which in the past has brought them multiplatinum success but has left their latter releases not feeling like as big an event as some of their peers. While not part of the initial explosion which was the Nu-Metal scene, P.O.D. has always operated (in my eyes) as the best of the rest. While not up there with scene leaders Korn or Limp Bizkit, they run away from the pack when up against the likes of Adema or Alien Ant Farm and Veritas keeps that trend going.
In a world where Nu-Metal nostalgia is all the rage, it makes sense that P.O.D. would release a new album that sounds extremely similar to their hay-day. The band are reliable and can turn out new music which will scratch the itch that the band is known for while not quite hitting the highs of their best material. While 2001’s Satellite was the band’s big moment and saw them have genuine mainstream hits, they have stayed on a steady course since then being a reliable band with the exception of 2012’s Murdered Love, this was the bands mid-career highlight and while Veritas isn’t quite up to that level it has a lot of moments to enjoy.
While reading the tracklist the first thing to jump out is the guest features, Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God), Tatiana Shmayluk (Jinjer) & Cove Reber (Saosin) it would be normal to assume that we’re going to be getting a more revved up and aggressive version of P.O.D., and while that is the case for certain portions of the album it doesn’t carry through enough, and there lies one of Veritas biggest obstacles. At times, it feels like the band are scared to commit to the heavier sound that suits them so well. Opening song Drop with Randy Blythe features a big juicy riff and a breakdown out of nowhere, but every time the pace really gets going, it stops for a clean pre-chorus, which pulls the knees right from under the track. This issue appears throughout the entire album with Dead Right & We Are One, both doing the same trick.
If you’ve heard a P.O.D. album in the past then you will know what this sounds like, but the album does have some highpoints throughout its runtime. The middle section of the album surprisingly stands out as its best section – Lay Me Down delivers the best chorus on the album so far, and I Won’t Bow Down hits all the hallmarks of a great Nu-Metal track. They get the balance of singing and rapping just right, has a good edge to the riffing and a chorus you can imagine a field full of white people with dreadlocks singing along too.
Other bands have had much larger peaks and troughs than P.O.D., but there is nothing wrong with being a steady ship and releasing a solid album every couple of years which give you 2 or 3 songs you can use to top up your setlist, and that’s what the band have done. You can go along and sing your heart out to Youth Of A Nation and when a new song comes on you can bob your head and still have a good time. Nostalgia is currently the hot thing in alternative culture and bands from the nineties are garnering a lot of attention and are playing venues far bigger than they were even a few years ago, very few of them are anywhere near as consistent as Veritas and P.O.D. have continued to be through their entire career. 
(3 / 5)
