POD - Satellite

Atlantic - 2001 - 52 minutes

Given that the long hand version of their name is Payable on Death, you might expect POD to be the blackest of bludgeon merchants - the reality is they're anything but.

The Californian quartet are committed Christians, will happily tell you so and sprinkle positivity and spirituality throughout their sound. That doesn't stop them rocking out, though - with its huge riffs and frontman Sonny's rapping vocals, 'Satellite' will be the next colossus on the nu-metal block.

There's singles aplenty, from now-is-the-hour opener 'Set it Off' to US smash 'Alive' and the gang chorus of 'Boom'. But while they move into cod reggae territory on 'Without Jah, Nothin' and 'Ridiculous' (which lives up to its title), they're far smarter than most of their peers and serve up plenty of introspection on the troubled times of 'Ghetto' and the familial loss of 'Thinking About Forever'. Soul stirring, anthemic and an album that could wear Fred Durst's nails down to the quick.

Harry Guerin

Tracklisting: Set it Off - Alive - Boom - Youth of the Nation - Celestial - Satellite - Ridiculous - The Messenjah - Guitarras de Amor - Anything Right - Ghetto - Masterpiece Conspiracy - Without Jah, Nothin' - Thinking About Forever - Portrait