P.O.D. - Testify (CD)

All Music Guide

Whether it be the group's Christian ethos, ethnically diverse makeup or reggae sunsplashmeetsOzzfest vibe, POD has always retained a bit more respectability than its raprock peers. Even during the group's most "numetal" moments, they sound like they have at least heard Bad Brains first three albums and probably dug them. Smartly, on their fifth studio album Testify the band continues to eschew such raprock gimmicks as ancillary use of turntables and cheesy samples, and instead they deliver a mature and workmanlike metal monsterpiece. Bright, loud but always artful, Testify's glossy production comes via journeyman hit making producer and synthesizer master Glenn Ballard. While POD have lost none of their rootsy funkmetal swagger, Ballard the man behind such poptitans as Michael Jackson, Van Halen and Alanis Morrissette has found a way to give them an eminently palatable studio sheen that brings to mind a deft mix of the arena rock of Asia and The Police as much as it does Sepultura. T...he move toward a more polished sound also pays dividends creatively as guitarist Jason Truby, while not quite as forwardthinking as Audioslave's Tom Morello, still nonetheless shines under Ballard's approach delivering truly inspired and technically devastating performance. Similarly, vocalist Sonny seems reinvigorated and practically giddy about, "Running up a mountain chains tied to my feet" as he sings on the leadoff track "Roots In Stereo". Spiritually, the band is as concerned as ever with Jah, inner strength and the "blood of God's veins" and if the melancholy single "Goodbye For Now" is any indication they still have a few innerdemons to wrestle with creatively. Luckily though they haven't forgot the funk and songs such as the headsnapping "Lights Out" and the Sabbathesque "Sounds Like War" combine a bit of hiphop fun with Bob Marleyinspired metal faith. Throw in a couple of serendipitous guest spots from Hasidic rapper Matisyahu and by the time you get to the devastating metalreggae album closer "Mark My Words" you've got a band reborn. - Matt Collar, All Music Guide Read more Less