Early Years
While the exact date of formation is unknown, friends Marcos Curiel and Wuv Bernardo engaged in jam sessions in a band called Eschatos, without a vocalist sometime in the early 1990s. After his mother's fatal illness, Sonny Sandoval converted to Christianity; he joined P.O.D. in late 1991 or early 1992. Traa Daniels joined the band in 1994 when they needed a bassist for a concert, to replace Gabe Portillo, who appeared in the original demo tape of 1992-1993. P.O.D. signed with a relatively unknown Christian label, Rescue Records, and released albums under the label between 1994 and 1997, Snuff the Punk and Brown. In 1997, they released an album of live recordings from the Tomfest festival. In 1998, they signed with Atlantic Records, which brought the mass-media coverage that self-production would not bring.
Prior to the release of The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, P.O.D. released on their fourth album May 4, 1999 The Warriors EP, a tribute EP to their loyal fans. This limited edition CD has only 30,000 copies in print and was licensed by Atlantic Records and distributed by Tooth & Nail Records.
Mainstream success
P.O.D.'s August 24, 1999 mainstream the fifth album, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, spawned the hits "Southtown" and Total Request Live favorite "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)". At a time after the 2000 album, "School of Hard Knocks" was featured on the soundtrack for Little Nicky. All three music videos enjoyed heavy play on MTV2 and the songs were rock radio hits. The album went on to become RIAA certified platinum.
In 2001, on the same day as the September 11, 2001 attacks, P.O.D. released their sixth studio album, Satellite. The album's first single, "Alive", already a rock radio hit, went on to become one of MTV's and MTV2's #1 played video of the year. The video's popularity, as well as the song's positive messages to be grateful for life, helped the song become a huge pop radio hit.
The album's second single, "Youth of the Nation", was influenced in part by the school shootings at Santana High School, Columbine High School and Granite Hills High School. The 2002 singles "Boom" and "Satellite" also became very popular. Also, the concluding track of the album, "Portrait" received a number of awards including a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 2002. The album went on to become RIAA-certified triple platinum.
In the early 2000s P.O.D. played three times at Ozzfest, the heavy metal extravaganza that has now performed before 3.5 million fans across the U.S., with the band featured on the Ozzfest Main Stage in 2002. Some Christian music fans derided the band for bringing its power-of-light sonic fury to a venue also featuring bands who seemed to support (or at least summon) the forces of darkness; others argued that was precisely the point.
Marcos leaves the band
In November 4, 2003, guitarist Marcos Curiel left the band due to his side project, The Accident Experiment and "spiritual differences." However, Marcos claims that he was actually kicked out of the band (see his article). Curiel was replaced by Jason Truby, former member of Christian thrash/death metal band Living Sacrifice. In the same year they released their third mainstream the seventh album, Payable on Death. This album went on to sell over 1,000,000 copies worldwide. It featured the hits "Will You" and "Change the World". Also in 2003 Sonny recorded a song with singer songwriter Anastacia, a socially powerful track called I Do.
In 2003, the band's song "Sleeping Awake" was featured in the movie The Matrix Reloaded. A music video was made for the song that was based off the same film. Marcos was not included as this was their first major hit with new guitarist Jason Truby.
In 2003, the band's song "Boom" was featured in the documentary Ozzfest 2003, and in 2004, in the documentary NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience.
Sometime after the tsunami in Asia, many singers, musicians, and actors/actresses recorded a song called "Forever in Our Hearts". It is only obtainable on iTunes, and features many well known artists including Sonny and Wuv from P.O.D. All proceeds from this song go to help with the tsunami relief.
On November 15, 2005, P.O.D. released The Warriors EP, Volume 2 as a tribute to their fans. It features some demos from their eighth album Testify, as well as two live tracks, two b-sides, and a cover version of the 1980s Payola$ reggae hit, "Eyes of a Stranger". It was produced by Travis Wyrick.
Marcos himself eventually rejoined the band in December 2006.
