P.O.D. Putting Finishing Touches On 'The Awakening' Album, Preparing To Hit The Road

With no plans to take a break this summer, P.O.D. will spend the dog-days on the road headlining sheds and festivals with more than 30 dates in North America (routing below). The "southtown" hard rock pioneers are putting the finishing touches on their ninth studio album, "The Awakening", due in August via T-Boy/Universal Music Enterprises (UMe).

"The Awakening" was recorded at a Los Angeles-area studio with P.O.D.'s longtime producer Howard Benson.

"We're excited about the new record," P.O.D. singer Sonny Sandoval told MikeJamesRockShow.com. "It's a conceptual record, so it's something different for us. It has a storyline to it. I mean, the songs… we love 'em. We had a chance to play a few new ones live."

In a recent interview with Loudwire, Sandoval stated about the material for P.O.D.'s forthcoming album: "I'm digging it. We have a little something different. I can't really say now, but we're trying a different approach."

He continued: "I think what we've done, it's such a collection of songs that not everybody gets. Some bands sound like one song the whole album through. We've been all over the place, because we are punk, hardcore, rock 'n' roll, metal, reggae, and I think sometimes it might be too much diversity and kids are lost. It's too big of a buffet for them to go for and they want three chords sometimes. We're never going to do that."

Sandoval added: "We're putting something together that tells a story. Maybe it's just for us, maybe it's not for your average listener, but it's something we're having a lot of fun doing. We're excited."

P.O.D. tour dates:

June 14 - South Bend, IN - The Bear’s Big Growl 4
June 16 - Virginia Beach, VA - Shakas
June 19 - Winchester, VA - Blue Fox
June 20 - Syracuse, NY - Oswego Events Center - WAQX Festival
June 21 - Huntington, NY - Paramount
June 22 - Pittsburgh, PA - Altar Bar
June 24 - Ft Wayne, IN - Pierre’s
June 26 - Alix, Alberta - Tail Creek Mud & Music Festival
June 27 - Detroit, MI - Stars and Stripes
June 28 - Ringle, WI - Q&Z Expo Center
June 30 - Madison, WI - Barrymore Theatre
July 01 - Cedar Rapids, IA - Reverb
July 02 - Bloomington, IL - Castle Theatre
July 03 - Sault Saint Marie, MI - Kewadin Casino
July 04 - Waconia, MN - Carver County Fairgrounds - Taste of Minnesota
July 07 - Minot, ND - Original Bar and Nightclub
July 09 - Rockford, IL - District
July 10 - Lansing, MI - Common Ground Festival
July 11 - Green Bay, WI - Watering Hole
July 12 - Des Moines, IA - Val Air
July 14 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Work
July 15 - Hammond, IN - Wolf Lake Park Pavilion
July 16 - St. Louis, MO - Pops
July 17 - Cleveland, OH - Odeon
July 18 - Lancaster, OH - Mickeys Outdoors