The Rods are a U.S. metal band that was formed in late 1979 by Drummer Carl Canedy (who was the first drummer for Manowar) and lead vocalist/guitarist David “Rock” Feinstein (Ronnie James Dio’s cousin). Adding bassist Garry Bordonaro to complete the lineup, they put out six albums, one EP, and one live album through the 80s. While remaining friends and always keeping in touch (and perhaps playing a gig here and there), the band finally reunited in 2008 to play a festival in Norway (The Rods are one of those bands that have always had that “street-cred” aura attached to them.) This prompted them to record the albums Vengeance in 2011, Brotherhood Of Metal in 2019 and Rattle The Cage last year, with new bassist Freddy Villano.

The Rods are now set to release a new studio album entitled Wild Dogs Unchained. The album is produced by the band (which of course includes Carl Canedy, who has forty-plus albums to his producer credits) while being mixed & mastered by Chris Collier… giving Wild Dogs Unchained another modern sounding metal album that still possesses The Rods’ style of traditional metal music. It’s a great sound production!

Unlike so many opening songs on an album, Wild Dogs Unchained does not open with a faster, up-tempo song. It is a very mid-paced, great Track called ‘Eyes Of A Dreamer’ that holds your attention and makes you anticipate the other tracks. It’s really quite refreshing that they went in that direction, something different these days! And they go right into some great rocking songs like ‘Rock And Roll Fever’, ‘Mirror Mirror’ and deeper into the album ‘Make Me A Believer.’ This is all great stuff!

Wild Dogs Unchained features an interesting twist by rerecording two tracks from the 80s, ‘Wild Dogs (Unchained)’ and ‘Hurricane.’ Both are Rods‘ classics, and not only do they do them justice, but they’re even better than the originals! And really, that can be said about The Rods as a band. They have been on a great run over the last three, now four albums. And I believe they are better than ever. They are putting out great quality albums, and they are still a great live band. They make their music easy to follow along, but with supreme musicianship to deliver the goods. Wild Dogs Unchained is an excellent album!

Release Date: September 5th, 2025
Massacre Records
Reviewed By: Tom Elke
Review Score: 9