“Music comes down to passion,” says P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval. “There are not a lot of bands out there today who have that. But I think that feeling is coming back around again.” P.O.D. (Payable on Death) certainly has the right to talk about passion in music. Passion has been front and center since the band formed in 1992 in San Diego, CA, and all the way up to the release of their eighth and latest record, Murdered Love. Over the last two decades, the group has sold over 10 million albums (including 2001’s triple platinum record Satellite), garnered four No. 1 music videos, three Grammy nominations and over a dozen rock radio hits, including “Southtown,” “Alive,” “Youth of the Nation” and “Goodbye For Now.” Music trends have come and gone, but P.O.D.’s fanbase has seemingly only grown stronger.

The unconquerable spirit of NONPOINT charges up the energy in any environment, from the studio to the stage. The stamina, resilience, diversity, massive power and undeniable authenticity of the enduring Active Rock crew makes them kindred spirits to their audience: fans who call upon the band’s tried-and-true anthems to help conquer adversity in their own lives. Nonpoint emerged as part of the cultural wave of aggressive-streetwise-metal-mixed-with-melodic-force and unapologetic passion that burst from underground clubs onto Ozzfest and MTV in the “aughts.” But even as radio formats shifted and the window dressing aesthetics changed, the sheer intensity balanced with huge catchiness of Nonpoint bangers like “Bullet with a Name,” “Breaking Skin,” “The Truth” and “That Day” kept them relevant and revered. Nonpoint operates with the bottom heavy groove of Sabbath, the audacious danger of The Crue and GN’R, the theatrical bent of Maiden, the in-your-face brutality of Pantera and the urgent explosiveness of Rage Against The Machine. This is music for the millions of people who connect just as passionately with Metallica’s Black Album as the record of the same name by Jay-Z, the same fans that grew up to start increasingly rock radio leaning bands like Bring Me The Horizon. “Not everybody wants to go see a shrink and not everybody wants to sit around and wallow,” Soriano observes. “Our music can be therapy. It is what helps someone get through something. I attest all of our success to keeping three things important: the music, the show, and the fans.

In any cultural movement there are leaders and there are followers. But most importantly, there are those uniquely innovative provocateurs that take the familiar, turn it upside down, and burn it with new creative fire. Like a b-boy mad scientist smashing the windows of the mainstream with a Molotov cocktail of passion and inspiration, Hyro The Hero takes the fusion of rap and rock and resurrects it. His combustible concoction is one part The Clash, one part Bad Brains, and several doses of reverence for hip-hop relevance. It’s the most punk rock rap and the most hip-hop punk.

It has been quite a journey for ISLANDER, who, in just over a year, have gone from obscurity to a band in constant radio rotation. Fueled with a combination of emotionally capturing songs and audience-grabbing live shows, ISLANDER continue to lead at the forefront of their peers. ISLANDER have stayed busy, constantly touring with artists such as Korn, Stone Sour, Papa Roach, P.O.D., Suicide Silence, Seether, Babymetal, Yelawolf, Nothing More and many others. Catch their energetic live show in a city near you!