P.O.D. is back with what some critics are calling the record it was born to make. And while the band’s INO debut, When Angels and Serpents Dance, marks the return of original guitarist Marcos Curiel, there’s a lot more behind the brand-new tunes.

Sonny Sandoval knows that nobody wants to listen to rock stars complain about their life. After 16 years as the vocalist/frontman with San Diego’s premier alternative rock/hardcore band P.O.D.—the logical musical descendents of Bad Brain’s mix of aggressive hard rock, reggae and hip-hop—Sonny knows he’s got it pretty good. Calling in from Oklahoma City, where the band is doing a radio promo tour and playing its songs on acoustic guitars, he’s aware that no matter how hard his lot feels on a given day, no matter the pressures, he’s still got it good.

Yet, each station brings its own struggles, because no matter where you are standing, life can be hard. Recently, Sonny lost his voice, from daily flights followed by evening shows. The band’s gig, celebrating the release of When Angels & Serpents Dance (INO/Columbia), on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno had to be postponed. But that sure beats standing in the unemployment line.

Still, as P.O.D. (payable on death) was wrapping up its newest disc, remarkable for the return of original guitarist Marcos Curiel, Sonny admits to wanting to throw in the towel. “At first it felt like a reunion,” says Sonny. “We hung out a long time, just being friends and brothers first, and when we went into a practice studio to start writing—it was exciting.

“But when we moved to L.A. and got into the recording process, things started to happen, everyday things that happen in life and business that just get in the way. I can honestly say that, for me, this was one of the toughest years, just on a personal level, and in my own spiritual walk with the Lord. Then we had a baby, so you’re faced with a lot of things that you have to answer to, and the record got pushed back. After a while it started to feel like a job.

“When we started out, we said if this is not fun anymore, if it becomes a job, I don’t want to do it. There were days, when I was alone in L.A. cutting vocals, when I just wanted to quit and go home to be with my family. But looking back, listening to the whole record, I can see how God was with me as I went through it. I’m really proud of it. I can hear the songs, and I can look back and see the hand that God had in all of this.”

But for fans that go back to the band’s early Rescue Records’ releases and its breakout Atlantic debut, ‘99’s Fundamental Elements of Southtown, the big news behind Dance is the return of Marcos. Put most succinctly, press releases suggested that Curiel left to pursue side project The Accident Experiment and reported unspecified “spiritual differences.” A very public feud transpired, but in the end, the reconciliation was as simple, Sonny says, as “a guy reaching out to his friends.

“When Dimebag Darrell (Abbot, Pantera guitarist) was killed (in Dec. ‘04), that shook him up one day, and Marcos reached out and just called his friends. Later, we had bumped into him off and on in the streets of San Diego, and back around Halloween he called just to see if we could get together and have dinner and hang out.”

Unbeknownst to Marcos, or anyone outside P.O.D.’s inner circle, Marcos’ replacement for two albums, Jason Truby (from Christian metal band Living Sacrifice), was feeling a need to be home with his family in Arkansas. In spirited synchronicity, Truby is said to have quit on the same day that Marcos asked to return. “We got back together to jam,” says Sonny, “We amped Marcos up, and like the saying goes, it just felt like an old comfortable shoe.”

And critics and fans have been feeling the same way, he notes. “The comment we’ve been hearing the most from longtime friends and fans is that this is the record that was supposed to follow Satellite. It’s just natural with Marcos. I love Jason; he’s an awesome guy, an awesome guitar player, but their styles are different. We’re from San Diego, and Marcos has that flavor of our neighborhood, and his ethnic background, so he’s just a different guitar player; and that changes how we sound and what we do.”

The sound, artistry and attitude on Dance reveals the maturity of this fine band. “We are grown men now. We started P.O.D. 16 years ago, so there may be some of that same punk rock attitude, but we’re not going to play the same music we did back on Southtown. These guys are growing as musicians, and they’re getting better all the time. We want to grow as we’re going along, getting older. We don’t want to make the same record now that we did back when we were teenagers.”

But if anything holds P.O.D. together these days, if anything suggests that they have a long future still ahead of them, it’s the band’s ongoing relationship with their fans. “These days you can’t count on radio. You can’t count on the label to do the right marketing, but we have always been able to count on the Warriors to buy our music, put up posters, spread the word about the band with the most powerful tool out there—word of mouth.”

These days, technology makes it possible for fans to call or text Sonny, and he’s been known to start the week by texting a blessing out to P.O.D.’s entire fan-base, reminding them that they are God’s beloved children, and that they are loved and appreciated. CCM

To learn more about P.O.D., visit their artist page.