P.O.D. Amplitude/Album Review
by
Mickey Shannon
Back in early 2003, Marcos Curiel, the guitar player for
P.O.D. split ways with the band. Though these circumstances should remain up to the band and Marcos to detail out, it left
P.O.D. looking for a new guitar player. Enter Jason Truby. For those of us that used to go to the run-down warehouses and small coffee shops to see some of the most hardcore rock bands, we instantly recognized the name Jason Truby from one of coolest metal bands out around:
Living Sacrifice. Back during the old times when
P.O.D. and
Living Sacrifice would play at
Cornerstone Festival or
Creation Fest, the two bands always brought the house. So when
P.O.D. was looking for a new guitarist, they had no desires to put an ad in the paper for a new one. Jason Truby was the guy for the job, and what a whirlwind of a job it was. The first gig for the band with their new guitarist was to produce the lead single for Matrix Reloaded. The guys and Truby meshed quite well, and out came Sleeping Awake.
Talk had been going on about a new record for some time, and eventually, the album was announced.
P.O.D. would be putting out their first album with Truby on the guitars self-titled
Payable on Death. While P.O.D. has always been known for putting out a little different sound each record, since their debut album
Snuff the Punk,
Payable on Death was rumored to be a new direction in the band's sound. And what a great change it was. The thing about this album is that it's not a first-listen album. Sure, songs like
Wildfire,
Will You and
Execute the Sounds jump out at you, but it takes a few listens before the entire CD starts to show how great it sounds. Some have even likened this album to
Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication album in terms of a groundbreaking step-up in style. Songs like
Find My Way and
Asthma begin to grow on you because of the emotion and heart put into their sound and lyrics. Another thing about this new album's change of style is a lack of rapping which was found in the previous album,
Satellite. Now, we get much more melody and singing. The style has also shifted in some of the songs to encompass more of a reggae sound, which gives off a great new feel. And any band that's willing to take the risk of putting a 6+ minute instrumental on their album deserves wicked props. When
P.O.D. asked Jason Truby who he'd love to work with on the new album, the guy they ended up with was guitar legend Phil Keaggy. Between Truby and Keaggy, the instrumental song
Eternal on this album is a masterpiece. Eternal is the type of song you can just sit back and mellow out with. The guitar playing is soothing, peaceful, and powerful all at the same time.
P.O.D. didn't just stop with a sweet album though. On a seperate disc is a playable demo of a special version of
Amplitude for the Playstation 2, featuring a never-before-released
P.O.D. song,
Space. (which can be downloaded from a special website with the purchase of the album) Having never played the full game, I wasn't sure what to expect with this demo. Now that I've gotten a chance to sit down with it, I can say it's a very addictive game. There are two modes of play, the first being normal gameplay. The game has various planes that represent various sounds in the song. One plane represents drums, while another represents guitars, and yet another takes on bass, and so-on. Each of these planes have little markers on the left, middle or right, which you have to shoot with your ships guns. By shooting the markers as they come along, you rack up points, and sometimes, power-ups. The other mode of gameplay is the ability to remix the song. This gameplay mode is similiar to the normal gameplay mode, but allows you to remix the song instead. When you're finished working with that, you can throw in some phat turntable sounds, putting together your own remix of
Space. Any fan of rythm games should feel right at home with this one. The full game has the
Boom Crystal Method remix to work with, along with numerous other songs from various rock, rap and pop artists.
That's not all that came with this album though. In addition to the CD itself and the special demo of Amplitude, the album also has a near-hour long DVD titled
Inside P.O.D. Culture. Personally, I was looking forward to this as much as anything. I loved the
Still Payin' Dues DVD that
P.O.D. put last year, so upon hearing they would be including a DVD video with the album, I was pysched. The DVD goes behind the scenes with the band, and shows how they put together the new album, from the warehouse they recording it in, to interviews with the guys. Even Tattoo Mike shows up for a while! The DVD also gives good insight into how well Jason meshed with the band, and also takes you on a tour of the Southtown, where Sonny and Wuv grew up.
On top of all of the above stuff, each of the first million copies of
Payable on Death come with one of three art cards, a select few of which are autographed by the band. The artwork for this album is done by
Daniel Martin Diaz, and amazing artist. Included on the DVD is a small featurette on the making of the artwork for this album, where they interview Diaz.
Really, this entire project just screams groundbreaking. A few bands have thrown in DVDs with their work before, but a DVD and a PS2 game? That's quite a treat, and the fact that you can pick this album with all the trimmings up for as little as 10 bucks at places like
Best Buy is a steal. If there was ever an incentive from a band to keep fans from downloading the music off of Kazaa and other file-sharing programs, this is it. The innovation of this album should be marked as groundbreaking for both the music and gaming industry. Sonny of P.O.D. puts it perfectly in the song
Revolution:
Did Somebody Say A Revolution? Because that's what
Payable on Death is: a revolution!
