_{“The Brotherhood of Metal” is the second album to be released by American 80’s metal band The Rods since they reformed in 2008. The album was released on 7th June by Steamhammer / SPV. The Rods had released a number of albums in the early 80’s which gained them something of a cult following in the American metal scene. The two newer albums have seen the band develop that sound for a new generation. I played the track “Louder Than Loud” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 7th June.}

_{The Rods formed in New York in 1980 by singer and guitarist David ‘Rock’ Feinstein (a cousin of Ronnie James Dio and former member of the band Elf), drummer Carl Canedy and and bass player Steven Starmer. A debut album was initially releases as “Rock Hard” in 1980 before being reissued as “The Rods” in 1981. Starmer was replaced by Garry Bordonaro for the release of the second album “Wild Dogs” in 1982. Three more studio albums and live album were released before the band split in 1986 (another album was released under the name ‘Canedy, Feinstein, Bordonaro & Caudle’).}

_{Feinstein, Canedy and Bordonaro reformed The Rods in 2008 and they released the album “Vengeance” in 2011.It has taken a further 8 years for the band to finalise their next release. However, they've certainly delivered a great metal album with some fantastic tracks such as "1982" and the title track "The Brotherhood of Metal".}

_{Check out the website at http://www.therods.com/}

_{About “NI Rocks Recommends”}

_{The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!}