I grew up listening to hard rock and metal music. Often when people discuss or reminisce about those genres, they talk about the big American bands. Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses, Poison, Metallica, etc. Rarely do I hear people talk about some of the great Canadian hard rock and metal bands that were rocking just as hard. So this year, I decided to post about one of these Canadian bands on a weekly basis. One new post about an old band a week, till I run out of bands to post about.
If you’re just starting to follow this now, I just created an archive section featuring the previous posts, where you’ll find artists like SLIK TOXIC, SVEN GALI, KILLER DWARFS and more! This week’s feature is…
EXCITER
Widely considered to be one of the first ‘speed metal’ bands, Ottawa’s Exciter formed in 1978. The name “Exciter” was inspired by a Judas Priest song. Judas Priest being one of their influences, Exciter would go on to be considered a major influence for many Speed and Thrash metal bands today.
In 1980, the band recorded a demo, which they submitted to Shrapnel Records. Shrapnel included one of the tracks on a compilation CD “US Metal Volume II” and soon after in 1982 signed the band and release their first album “Heavy Metal Maniac” in 1983. A year later they signed another record deal with Megaforce Records and released “Violence & Force”. A tour with Anthrax and then Mercyful Fate would follow. In 1985 they signed with yet another label and went to London to record their third album.
It was around this time, that the band started to change band members just as much as they changed labels. In 1986, it was decided that singer/drummer Dan Beehler would focus 100% on drums and Jacques Belanger was brought in to sing. The band decided to go on hiatus in 1988 only to return in 1991, with Beehler back on double duty as singer and drummer. The band continued to play on and off over the coming years, predominantly in Europe, with a continually rotating line-up.
All three original members reunited in 2015 and play a series of festivals. A reunion album featuring all three original members was planned for 2019, but after some reunion shows throughout 2018, original guitarist John Ricci left and was replaced by Daniel Dekay.
Missed last week’s Often Forgotten Canadian Hard Rock/Metal Bands? WHITE WOLF
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