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Vice Blog

NEW YORK - NEW P.O.D. (UPDATED!)

For those of you who were too hung up to look past the dreads and the nu-metal associations and the Christianity and the UFO pants and that corny "Youth of a Nation" song, P.O.D. were fucking awesome. I'm not even going to try to sell you on the many reasons why, just be aware that you blew it and let's move on. According to the press materials that came with my copy of their new record, the band is back together and exploring a softer sound because "we're not  18 and punk-rocking in garages anymore." The trouble here, besides somehow verbifying "punk-rock", is that track nine, "God Forbid," is the one of the hardest songs I've heard in years.

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The whole thing starts with some silly atmospheric beats that last exactly 48 seconds too long, but comes in serious-business-style right at the 49-second mark. I don't know if dreadlock guy (who doesn't have dreadlocks anymore, btw) just has a lot of pent-up screams that build quietly inside whenever he's singing uplifting power-ballads about school shootings or whatever, but it's some furious yelling. What about is anyone's guess—iTunes tells me I've listened to this song 22 times in the last 3 days, and I don't have the faintest idea. Anyway, Page Hamilton from Helmet gets involved about half way through, though again I'm not sure why and I only mention it here because it felt weird not to. The song pretty much stays the course (growled verse, barked chorus, repeat) for a bit, but just when you start thinking that perhaps it isn't going to live up to the promise of that initial Rick ta Life-esque growl, P.O.D. trot out a breakdown that sounds straight off the Harder They Come comp. Why they save this for the last 30 seconds of the song is a mystery, but it kind of makes it even better, like a happy ending without the crying Chinese immigrant. I would pit this 10-second blast of genius against Negative Approach on their best day, and am happy to report that my bedroom mosh made a brief return from retirement after having spent the last eight years safely tucked away with my plugs and Comin' Correct jersey.
RYAN DUFFY

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Update: We decided—sorry, MTV asked us to add in an mp3 for the song and a little visual progression from the liner notes we thought was funny. I mean they did.

Listen: P.O.D. - "God Forbid"