Testify
Testify places P.O.D.'s different influences clearly alongside each other again. Heavy guitars, rapping, reggae and melodic rock all receive room. Glen Ballard's production gives the combination a clear, polished sound. The band retain their rhythmic character, but gentler melodies claim a substantial part of the attention. That balance allows more than one approach to define the album.
Roots In Stereo opens with reggae and Matisyahu's guest voice. It immediately signals that the record intends to offer more than a sequence of heavy eruptions. Lights Out subsequently pushes guitars further forward. Jason Truby sounds comfortable within that more direct approach while the singing provides sufficient movement to give the rhythms more than a forceful stomp.
If You Could See Me Now and Goodbye for Now choose a more accessible melodic direction. This Time also demonstrates how easily the band can move towards rock with clear vocal lines. Music loses some of its harder edge there but creates room for a more open, emotional delivery. Melody becomes the attraction rather than merely a break between aggressive passages.
Strength Of My Life moves further into reggae and supplies a distinct change of atmosphere. On the Grind instead chooses a stronger hip-hop approach with guest contributions. Not every departure works equally naturally. The band's own voice can feel pushed into the background there, although the move belongs within the broad ambitions of the record rather than arriving without context.
Track placement does not always help momentum either. Several gentler songs sit close together, reducing emphasis on the heavier side for a while. Fortunately, Let You Down provides a convincing emotional centre between the different approaches. Testify becomes an uneven but interesting album. The band sound confident enough to attempt several directions, even if their components do not always work equally well together. Clear melodies and firm rhythms support the strongest passages.
