Released by: Niji Ent
Release Date: May 24th, 2011
Genre: Heavy Metal
Links: http://www.therods.com/
Line Up:
David “Rock” Feinstein : Vocals, Guitar
Gary Bordonaro : Vocals, Bass
Carl Canedy : Vocals, Drums
Tracklist:
01. Raise Some Hell
02. I Just Wanna Rock
03. Rebels Highway
04. Ride Free Or Die
05. The Code (feat. Ronnie James Dio)
06. Livin’ Outside The Law
07. Let It Ripp
08. Fight Fire With Fire
09. Madman
10. Runnin Wild
11. Vengeance
The New York native metal band The Rods have return to the scene after nearly a decade of silence. I’ll be the first to admit that I have never heard any past material from the band, so I won’t be comparing it to any of their older records. The group was founded by David Rock Feinstein who was originally in Elf for a short stint, also original founding members Carl Canedy who has become a metal producer having worked with past bands as Anthrax and Exciter to name a few, and Garry Bordonaro handling bass and vocal duties. The line up returns intact here and the new record titled “Vengeance” has yet another veteran metal band hitting up the come back trail.
I know that for some the fact that the record is being released on Niji Ent the label that Wendy Dio and Ronnie James managed before his passing, will no doubt enhance the curiosity, also one of Dio’s last songs before his death is guest featured on this CD, the track called “The Code”. But to be honest if you’re expecting to find something more of a Dio-esque album, you will be disappointed. This record is all about The Rods sound now this time in age and with it you will find some good things and some clunkers.
I was never too fond of the early Elf music as it leaned more towards the bluesy side of rock as opposed to the sound that Feinstein created in The Rods, an approach that was pretty straight forward metal. That examination can be spotted on the strong metal opening offering of “Raise Some Hell”, which pounces your brain with a tasty drum bum rush courtesy of Canedy. Another one of these straight up metal anthems screams right by you when “A Rebel’s Highway” turns itself loose, with a pretty tight rhythm and bass action and featuring a showy guitar solo to top things off.
As far as Dio’s guest vocals on “The Code”, you’ll get what you know will get just Dio singing like his usual surprisingly the song itself sounds a bit some of RJD ‘s material from “Killing The Dragon”. A nice addition if you’re a Dio fan but there’s more the meets the eye to this Rods album even with the name Dio attached to this one tune. An example of the less impressing tunes on here is the out of bent and erratic vibe of “Living Outside The Law”, sorry Rock but I couldn’t put two and two together on this track, the singing just sounds off beat to me.
While you won’t hear any piercing ear shattering vocals by Feinstein, in fact he probably misses the spot on a few lines in between here and there, as stated earlier what you have here is a solid effort by three veteran musicians knowing what they can do well and utilizing those highs to create some a solid metal album. The rhythm section is hard and chunky which helps keep some of the lesser moving songs pumping with fist pumping energy. A much better effort here production wise in comparison to Feinstein solo record that was released earlier this year. And while is good to hear one more Dio tune from his last days on this planet, this is all about The Rod’s welcoming return to metal for these wise war eagles.
Written by Denys
Ratings Denys 7/10
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