P.O.D.

Before P.O.D. exploded onto the national music scene in 1999 they released an independent album called Snuff the Punk which featured artwork of an angel gripping the devil in a headlock and preparing to tear him a new one. Anyone familiar with P.O.D. records knows there’s an aggressive side to many of their songs, be it singer Sonny Sandoval’s occasional screaming, the crunchy guitar licks and thunderous bass lines, or the lyrical content that depicts the soul’s struggle to resist the bad and cling to the righteous. So to see the title of their new album, When Angels & Serpents Dance, it would be easy to interpret this as another musical brawl between the forces of good and evil. And it is. But it’s more than that.

From the opening licks (provided by original guitarist Marcos Curiel, who recently reunited with the band) of first single “Addicted,” it is clear that battle lines are being drawn, though in this instance it is as much about fighting back against destructive influences as it is about warring within ourselves to be strong enough to overcome the things we allow inside to afflict us. As with many things in life, struggles are from within just as often as they are from without, and the primary question posed on this track is one we all face at some point: Why do I love you [these destructive habits] when I know you’re wrong? In the battle to better yourself, you have to be able to ask tough questions like this before you can have a chance of eradicating something that is detrimental to your life.

Similarly, the album’s title track is deeper than it may at first appear. In one sense, the “dance” referred to is indeed a war between opposing forces, but it’s not merely a slugfest to see who will be the last one standing. The dance becomes a metaphor for the lives we lead when Sandoval shouts the following lines:

Life’s real when angels and serpents dance
Who’s leading? Leading you?
Everything you say,
Everything that you do
Leading me. What is true?
One must lead in the dance, who’s leading you?

One of the album’s less overt themes, however, can be found in the guest musicians who appear on three of the tracks. Choosing not to go with an assortment of flash-in-the-pan, artist-of-the-moment types, P.O.D. has teamed up with people who have influenced them over the years, sticking to their roots instead of caving to popular music trends. Let’s have a show of hands for who has heard of all three of these bands: Suicidal Tendencies, Helmet and the Melody Makers. Kudos to you if you’ve heard of all three because you’re probably one of very few who can say that. But that’s simply a testament to the band’s desire to be honest about who they are and what they like—which is something we should all aspire to.

Whether the “dance” means a fight or who leads your life in a metaphorical sense, one thing that’s true is that you have to know who you are if you expect to survive the fight or weave the dance successfully. If you don’t, you’re guaranteed to fall. P.O.D. knows what is at stake in their dance because it’s a dance/war that’s far more important than anything you’ll see on ABC’s Dance Wars. This knowledge is what makes When Angels & Serpents Dance their most powerful, purpose-filled album since The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, because it is a sonically-searing, lyrically-leveling record that provides an example for others to heed in their own dances.

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