Amazing Grit: How Sweaty the P.O.D. Sound

While the popularity of Limp Bizkit, Korn and Kid Rock prove there’s no shortage of demand for the raunchy, hedonistic side of the rap-rock equation, San Diego-based rock-rap quartet P.O.D. uses a more spiritually informed formula.

Yes, the group, whose major-label debut, “Fundamental Elements of Southtown,” came out in August, delivers a similar wall of sound built on snarling guitars, pounding beats and robust rapping.

This interracial bunch looks tough, too, hailing from the streets of Southtown, an ethnically diverse neighborhood just north of the Mexican border.

But instead of singing about pimps, partying and sex, P.O.D., which opens for Primus tonight at the Sun Theatre in Anaheim, raps about loftier subjects. Since forming in 1992, this band of Christians has placed a premium on commitment, faith, respect and love.

“Our heart’s desire is to move people,” lead singer and lyricist Sonny Sandoval said by phone from his home. “We want to share our love [of] the Lord [and] to be a band with a positive influence.

“We will not go out there and make negative music for selfish gain. . . . We’ve been selling music out of the back of our truck for eight years.. . . . We know who we are, and we’ll always be true to our roots.”

Those ties remain strong, but that home turf has been anything but divine.

As they grew up surrounded by an assortment of shady characters and illegal activity, Sonny, bassist Traa (Mark Daniels), drummer Wuv (Noah Bernardo) and guitarist Marcos (Curiel) were trouble-prone teens who began to straighten out in the wake of family crises, particularly for cousins Wuv and Sonny.

After living on the streets for three years, Wuv’s father turned to religion, which according to his son saved his shaky marriage. Seeing how faith in God changed his father’s life, Wuv began attending church services and, over time, embraced Christianity himself.

Meanwhile, Sonny’s mother, also became a born-again Christian, and when she died of cancer at 36, Sonny--inspired by her devotion--decided to live a more righteous life “so I could someday see her again in heaven.”

“We’re not choirboys. . . . We have faults just like anyone else,” Sonny said. “I could have continued to get into trouble, but I wanted to do something positive with myself--and music is the best way.”

“The Fundamental Elements of Southtown” is a conceptual album of sorts, an ambitious effort hopeful in tone and empowering.

Sonically, there’s plenty of crunching, metal-tinged rock, rap and hard-core, mixed with slices of reggae, jazz, Latin, funk and soul.

P.O.D. has found itself in the position of appealing to--and playing for--both secular and Christian rock audiences.

“There is . . . a greater sense of divine purpose when we’re playing at all-Christian rock shows,” Sonny said. “In clubs or bars, we know that the audience primarily came to see a show, so we try not to get preachy and instead let the music do most of the talking.”

Yet aggression also simmers and boils in P.O.D.’s predominantly loud, unsettling and sometimes abrasive sound-scapes.

“We grew up on hip-hop, metal and hard core, which . . . reflect a certain amount of the chaos and confusion that are part of daily life,” said Sonny. “The difference between us and some other rap-metal bands is that we offer hope to kids, not finger-pointing or a sense of despair.”

* Primus and P.O.D. play tonight at the Sun Theatre, 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. 8 p.m. $23-$25. (714) 712-2700.