_{“Rats and Rumours” is the new album from German hard rockers Nitrogods. It was released through Steamhammer/SPV on 20th October and is the follow up to the self-titled debut album from 2012. Tracks from that debut album will have featured on a few of the NI Rocks shows on Rock Radio NI over the past couple of years. “Rats and Rumours” maintains that raw, hard-hitting feel of the debut “Nitrogods”; something that may result from the band’s insistence of recording in a studio using analogue technology.}

_{The previous album was released before I started the “NI Rocks Recommends” series, but I recall being asked by the promoter what I thought of the album and I remember saying that at times it was very Motorhead-like in sound with the occasional bit of Georgia and the Satellites thrown in. That probably still applies, with the addition of some Stray Cats influence on tracks such as the excellent “Irish Honey”. The track “Ramblin Broke” is referred to as a “blues escapee” and does almost seem to sample John Fogerty’s “The Old Man Down the Road” at times; but I’ve no problem with that!}

_{Nitrogods consists of Oimel Larcher on bass and vocals, Henry Wolter on guitars and Klaus Sperling on drums. Both Wolter and Sperling have played with Primal Fear in the past. When Wolter formed the band in 2011 he recruited his close friend Larcher as vocalist.  There’s a quote from Wolter in the press release for the new release that I really liked. “We realise that we’re not going to reinvent the wheel with this kind of music, but at least we’re putting some new tyres on it.”}

_{Nitrogods have released a video for title track “Rats & Rumours”.}

_{Find out more about Nitrogods here - http://www.nitrogods.de/}

_{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. To be honest I’m not really a big fan of “Reviews” expressing positives or negatives which essentially just represent one person’s opinion. With “NI Rocks Recommends”, I'll not be giving marks or ratings or dissecting every aspect of the album; just telling you something about the artist and the album and that I like it!}

_{My musical tastes covers most things from heavy melodic rock (anything too melodic bores me!) to the lower echelons of the metal genre (where it’s not ALL growling and screaming!). The albums that I’ll be recommending are merely those that I would buy myself and which you’ll be hearing played on my shows on Rock Radio NI.}

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