It’s been said that if any band or album captured the essence of thrash metal prior to Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All, it was Exciter’s Heavy Metal Maniac. This was largely thanks to guitarist John Ricci’s speed-crazed riffage, which lied somewhere between the heroics of Tipton and Downing at their most frenetic and the aggressive mosh pit-inducing passages that’d come to define the decade. Over the course of his three stints with the legendary band, Ricci provided guitar and songwriting for their classic 1983-1985 trilogy, 1992’s Kill After Kill, and remained the sole original member for 1997’s criminally underrated The Dark Command through 2010’s Death Machine.
Yes, for many years, Ricci singlehandedly kept the Exciter moniker alive, which is why it was ironic that, come the classic lineup’s reunion in 2014, Ricci left in 2018, before a comeback album from said lineup was even a possibility. Even more ironic? Exciter themselves imploded in 2024, leaving nothing to show for their last stand (for now) except a series of festival shows around the globe. Shows, mind you, that were quite kickass, but it sure would’ve been nice to have at least gotten an EP out of it. With all that in mind, it’s nothing short of welcome surprise that Ricci has returned out of nowhere with a new band and album in Powerrage’s Beast: The first full length album to feature his talents in 16 years.
Joining Ricci for this affair is Dark Command era frontman Jacques Bélanger, as well as one-time Witchkiller bassist Todd Pilon and drummer Lucas Dery. With a lineup like this, one would expect Beast to pick up right where Exciter left off, rife with speedy post-NWOBHM riffs, clean high-pitched screams, and the other usual old school tropes. This is not that at all. Upon first listen, I was absolutely stunned at how aggressive, unrelenting, and dark this album is in comparison to the Exciter canon. If this is the direction Ricci wanted, I could see how drummer/vocalist Dan Beehler and bassist Allan Johnson might’ve been hesitant, and perhaps even unable to pull off a release of this nature properly. Beast is an exercise in speed metal at its most primal, flirting with nearly every facet of the extreme metal subgenres Exciter accidentally shaped throughout.
The neck-snappers on this affair have less in common with classic Exciter and are more in line with the blackened speed/thrash scene of the ’90s (i.e. Absu, Deströyer 666, Nifelheim). Yes, they need to be heard to be believed, but cuts like “Dark Wings”, “I Torture I Kill”, and “Damned and Cursed” boast thrashing tremolo riffage reminiscent of the Osmose roster circa 1997 (which ironically featured Exciter at the time, but I digress). Bélanger’s vocals throughout alternate between harsh black metal rasps and those signature Halfordian screams, creating an effect comparable only to Harry “The Tyrant” Conklin in Satan’s Host. Contrasting these outbursts of demonic speed are painfully crushing slabs of death/doom that sound like the missing link between Exciter’s “Black Witch” and Celtic Frost. “Cremation Damnation” and “Haunted Hell” are slow and lumbering in demeanor, but embody the bleak atmosphere of the release as a whole.
While I could understand why Beast would dissuade purists expecting an Exciter clone, those who appreciate the band in a larger sense and recognize their role in the evolution of metal will surely get a kick out of this album. It bridges the DNA between one of the Great White North’s finest axe-masters and his bastard offspring, from blackened thrash to death/doom, yet without ever sounding uneven or sloppy. The speedsters manage to hold their own against the dirges and vice versa, making this a fulfilling affair all around. What more can I say? Beast is a beast!
7 out of 10
Label: High Roller Records
Genre: Speed Metal
For fans of: Exciter, Satan’s Host, Mercyful Fate
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