Exciter
Long Live The Loud

An energetic and aggressive guitar riff, a sustained and heavy rhythm, an ignorant pentatonic solo, a powerful and angry voice: these are the essential ingredients that a song must possess to be defined as heavy metal. And these are also the only contents of any song by Exciter. The Canadian trio in the early '80s brings the genre to its purest essence, eliminates all frills, doesn't accept the slightest compromise; and at the same time leads it to the extreme, with a speed and violence unheard of at the time, an exaggerated distortion of the guitar, and a deliberately unacceptable sound quality: it's the dawn of the subbranch that will later be labeled as speed metal.

After the two historic initial masterpieces "Heavy Metal Maniac" and "Violence & Force," in 1985 the third album "Long Live the Loud" is released, recorded in London under the supervision of the experienced Guy Bidmead, among other producers of Motorhead. Although it doesn't objectively have the importance of the first two, the album confirms itself at the same quality level and the group's style doesn't change a bit; it will also represent the last full-length of the original formation before the first in a long series of line-up changes.

We thus find the authoritative John Ricci, an Italo-Canadian who today is the only one still present in the band; Allan James Johnson with his pounding bass; and then there’s Dan Beehler, a wild man who goes crazy on the drums while shouting with that extravagant yet inimitable voice.

As expected, the speed outbursts occupy most of the album: two notes are more than enough to build the main riff of the title track, a legendary piece always played live; the energy and grit displayed here are absolute. I can't help but mention the break immediately after the solo, where the sonic chaos completely stops for just one second, only to begin again more powerful than before: banal and brilliant. Other tracks of the same mold: "I Am The Beast", where the yells of the frenzied Dan reach embarrassing levels and John Ricci's riff follows the classic saw-pick pattern with a final triplet, invented by them and highly imitated from them on; "Beyond The Gates Of Doom", which opens deceptively with a gloomy and slow organ; "Sudden Impact", which tells of a post-apocalyptic Earth devastated by war, supported by one of the best riffs of the album.

"Victims Of Sacrifice" is another strong piece of the work: a rocky introduction leads to the heart of the song, slightly less raw and violent than usual, with sounds more similar to the classic heavy metal of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and a dark and smoky atmosphere. "Born To Die" stands apart from everything else the band has done before: a mid-tempo approaching blues, supported by a warm and insistent guitar riff, it concludes with just one minute of speed outburst, which when it comes to Exciter absolutely cannot be missed, not even once. Closing we find the very lengthy "Wake Up Screaming", undoubtedly inspired by the elephantine doom typical of Black Sabbath, but if possible even more violent and oppressive; while Dan recounts being tormented by hellish nightmares, probably because possessed by Satan (it happens to me when I eat Chinese), the rhythm becomes more intense, and at the end, we also find an unexpected clean arpeggio.

After "Long Live The Loud", John Ricci, the creative soul of the group, will leave, and Exciter will never be the same again. They will partially recover upon his return, but they will never return to the levels of the golden age, of which this album was the worthy seal.

I close with a meaningless but true sentence: I use Exciter in the morning to start the day off great, instead of cookies.


Pros: Adrenaline in music

Cons: No piece of absolute historical importance


Year: 1985

Line Up:

Dan Beehler - Drums, Vocals
John Ricci - Guitar
Allan James Johnson - Bass

Tracklist

1. Fall Out
2. Long Live The Loud
3. I am The Beast
4. Victims Of Sacrifice
5. Beyond The Gates Of Doom
6. Sudden Impact
7. Born To Die
8. Wake Up Screaming