Veritas [CD]

P.O.D. have been a band for more than 30 years - and a very lively one at that. But if you ask the members what still inspires them after all this time, they will tell you that they still act as if they are eternal underdogs. Yes, with every new album they release, with every show they play, these musical lifers still feel like they have something to prove. "We're still here and we're still making the best music we've ever made," says Curiel. "When it comes to heart, toughness and soul, P.O.D. is your band". Sandoval adds, "We're still proving who we are - we still have that punk rock mentality."

It's that mentality, that relentless toughness, that has long characterized the platinum-selling P.O.D. and continues to do so as they march proudly into the next era of their lengthy career. Nearly five years after their last studio album Circles, which has been streamed more than 50 million times to date and spawned the Top 25 hit "Listening for the Silence," the band now returns with VERITAS, P.O.D.'s eleventh album and arguably their heaviest to date.

The word Veritas - which means "truth" in Latin - defines the emotional core of the album, and the album cover expresses this message even better: for Curiel, the cover of VERITAS, which depicts a child with blackened eyes, represents "a culmination of innocence and dark, hidden truths".