Payable on Death was released on November 4, 2003, through Atlantic and marks a notable de-emphasizing of the band's distinctive rap metal style.

However, on February 19, 2003, guitarist Marcos Curiel left the band under controversial circumstances, with contradictory reasons given from both parties.

[3][4] The remaining members expressed remorse in their friend's departure and considered disbanding until Jason Truby, former member of Christian metal band Living Sacrifice, assisted with the recording of "Sleeping Awake", from The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack.

[6] The group also decided on the title Payable on Death both to set the record straight regarding the band's initials and as a symbol of their rebirth.

[7] Daniels stated the two rules in writing their fifth album as "to never have any boundaries musically" and "to be as organic as we could possibly be."

Guitarist Jason Truby expressed satisfaction with his participation in the songwriting process: "Everyone respects each other and they let me be me and also we understand that there are boundaries.

'"[8] On Payable on Death, the band chose to head in a more traditional metal sound than the previous album, Satellite.

Traa Daniels noted in May 2003 that the album would deal with the upsetting departure of Curiel but that "a lot of these songs are coming out fun.

The track features Truby playing acoustic rhythm alongside Keaggy's electric guitar on lead.

They allegedly received many offers to tour at the beginning of 2004 and had hoped to join Metallica in January.

They also played at a Spike TV event in Las Vegas on December 2[10] and the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert.

's tour schedule also included the Street Scene festival in August and ran until late 2004 when they began work on a follow-up album.

[14] A few weeks after the official track listing was announced, the album's lead single was posted online for streaming in September 2003.

The additional material prompted the album's retail price to be slightly higher than average CDs and was viewed by New York Times writer Chris Nelson as "a testament to just how desperate music companies are to stoke consumer interest" in the face of free Internet music sharing.

[17] Payable on Death was included among a group of 15 DualDisc releases that were test marketed in two cities: Boston and Seattle.

AllMusic's Matt Collar considered it a "darker album than its predecessor" and found that "Truby unfortunately lacks some of the unexpected spark that Marcos brought to P.O.D.

"[1] Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly gave a largely scathing review of the album, stating, "On track after formulaic track, perfunctory verses rush into roaring refrains of compressed guitar arrrgh and charmless didacticism.

's mammoth success, Satellite, have been partly attributed to a shakeup at Atlantic Records, leaving P.O.D.

Atlantic was sold to a private investor resulting in several thousand people, many of whom close to P.O.D., losing their jobs.