P.O.D. have been a band and a vital one at that for more than 30 years. But ask the members what still inspires them after all this time, and they’ll tell you they still operate as if they’re perpetual underdogs. Yes, with every new album they release, with every show they play, these musical lifers still feel they have something to prove. “We’re still here and we’re still creating some of the best music we’ve ever made,” says Curiel. “When it comes to heart, grit and soul, P.O.D. is your band.” Adds Sandoval, “We’re always still proving who we are always having that punk-rock mentality.” It’s this mindset, this unrelenting grit that has long defined the platinum-selling P.O.D. and continues to do so as they march proudly into the next era of their long-winding journey of a career. Now, nearly five years removed from their previous studio album, Circles, which to date has been streamed more than 50 million times and spawned the Top 25 hit “Listening to Silence,” the band returns in a major way with VERITAS, the eleventh P.O.D. LP and arguably their hardest-hitting record yet. The word Veritas which translates to “Truth” in Latin defined the emotional core of the album, and the album art further encapsulates that message: to Curiel, the VERITAS album cover, which pictures a child with its eyes blacked out, signifies a culmination of innocence and dark hidden truths.