Artist: NITROGODS
Album: NITROGODS (CD)

Release date: 2012
Media type: CD

No more endless studio fakes, sound samples, artificial drum overdubs and computer-controlled corrections of suboptimal lead vocals. The time has come to return to the true values of rock music, namely honesty, solid craftsmanship and real lifeblood. To cut a long story short: the time has come for Nitrogods! The motto of this spectacular new rock trio: three men, three corners, and down-to-earth no-bullshit rock’n’roll!

The band may still be unfamiliar to the public at large, but its three members are renowned musicians with illustrious histories to look back on. Guitarist Henny Wolter founded Thunderhead in 1988, played with Primal Fear, respectively Sinner for number of years and was part of the Rock Meets Classic tour band. Drummer Klaus Sperling (Freedom Call) was also with Primal Fear for a long time. And at the epicentre of the Nitrogods soundquake is a heavyweight who is impressive in every respect: Oimel Larcher, a bear of a musician whose bass performance stands for sheer power and whose voice unmistakably reflects countless litres of beer and whiskey. “I wanted to return to playing the music that I love,” says Henny Wolter, “and that only works if you play it with your best friends.”

Wolter and his team mates forge their rock’n’roll the way its inventors intended it: loud, unrestrained, dirty, aggressive and not always pretty. The twelve songs on their self-titled debut album (release: 24 February 2012 on Steamhammer/SPV) document a consistent attitude and outspokenness. “In our songs, we got a lot of frustration about the excesses of a number of today’s rock and metal productions off our chests,” Wolter confesses. “Some lyrics clearly have autobiographical traits.” Care for some examples? ‘Licence To Play Loud’ is about the true life on the road, when bad food, a permanent lack of sleep and physical borderline experiences become part and parcel of a musician’s life. And ‘Lypsynch Stars’ is devoted to all those vocalists who use technical aids to cover up their own inadequacies. Nitrogods’ music, on the other hand, is honest through and through, which also goes for their earthy production.

Naturally, there are cross-references to various rock classics, corner stones such as Motцrhead, Rose Tattoo, ZZ Top and Status Quo. But Nitrogods don’t simply copy other artists, they pick up a band’s spirit and take it further, adding their own signature. Had it been any other way, the two guest stars Dan McCafferty (Nazareth) and ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke (Motцrhead) would hardly have helped out. “Dan was my favourite colleague at the Rock Meets Classic tour,” Wolter explains. “At some hotel bar, in a very boozed state, I got him to promise that he’d sing on my new band’s debut album. Dan said: For you, I’ll even sing for free if I like the material. If I don’t, I won’t sing at all.” ‘Whiskey Wonderland’ tells the story of how much McCafferty did like the material. And Eddie Clarke didn’t take much convincing: his WahWah solo on ‘Wasted In Berlin’ is classic rock’n’roll in perfection!

So an opulent feast has been prepared: Nitrogods’ debut release requires neither A-levels nor a university education – this album is ruled by sheer energy, dynamism and pure rock’n’roll. Three attributes which practically call for live performances. So keep your eyes and ears open when the band sets out to rock the nation’s stages following the album release in February 2012. And watch out: there’s a real risk of explosion!

TRACKLIST:

01 Black car driving man
02 Demolition Inc.
03 At least Iґm drunk
04 Gasoline
05 Whiskey wonderland
06 Licence to play loud
07 Lipsynch stars
08 The devil dealt the deck
09 Rifle down
10 Riptide
11 Wasted in Berlin
12 Zombietrain