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Heavier Than Thou is the third album by The Rods being reissued by High Roller Records and the band’s sixth overall. As I said in my review of the Let Them Eat Metal reissue, The Rods is a classic US metal band formed in the late ‘70s that rode the heavy metal wave into the ‘80s, but despite having chops no worse than many of their American brethren, never broke through. Heavier Than Thou was the album that most likely should have done it for them but, alas, it was not meant to be.

By the time of their sixth album, most bands have zeroed in on their sound and put a spit shine on their performances and that is true of Heavier Than Thou. The Rods have powerful vocals, nifty lead work and plenty of hooks strewn about the album. Tracks like "Angels Never Run" and "Chains of Love" have the speed and propulsive tempos of the best US metal. Singer David Feinstein throws in a few Dickinsonian vocal lines on "She’s in Trouble" in a nod to Britain’s role in propagating the metal explosion. There is still quite of bit of hard rock in The Rods’ DNA as you can hear on "Cold Sweat & Blood" and "I’m Gonna Rock," songs that wouldn’t be out of place during the mid-80s at The Roxy or L’Amour. As I said earlier, The Rods played tight and had songwriting that was no worse (and probably a bit better) than many of their peers but it didn’t translate into the big-time record deal many frankly inferior bands received. The Rods weren’t far superior to the other bands slogging away in the ‘80s, but they deserved a break as much as any and it is a bit of a surprise no major label took a chance. Water under the bridge. If you haven’t already, here’s your chance to hear what could be their best album and decide for yourself.