Review by Daniel for Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac (1983)

Speed metal legends Exciter first formed under the name of Hell Razor in Ontario, Canada back in 1978. They later changed their name to Exciter in 1982; presumably after the classic Judas Priest song of the same name. The only other Canadian band of any note to that time was of course Anvil so not only were Exciter sporting a brand new sound but they were also fairly influential in pushing the Canadian metal scene forwards. In fact, they seem to have hit a newly refreshed level of popularity in recent years off the back of the strong trend towards old-school metal with every man & his dog now sporting an Exciter patch on their metal armour even though very few would have been around to hear them back in the day.  

Exciter ended up signing with Shrapnel Records who would later go on to become the biggest label in the world for instrumental guitar shred records & Exciter’s first & only studio album for Shrapnel entitled “Heavy Metal Maniac” was released on 14th January 1983, the very same month that the self-titled debut from Belgium's Acid (the other initial speed metal release) would see the light of day in a vastly different part of the world. Exciter's debut would be the more highly celebrated of the two though, with the album generally finding itself included in most speed metal top tens still to this day. 

I have to say that the album title is pretty apt because it’s a metal as fuck record that’s a fair bit more intense than Acid could muster. In fact, there are a fair few sections of the album that are nothing short of full-blown thrash metal. The real talking point of the band though is unquestionably the fact that vocalist Dan Beehler is also Exciter’s drummer which is something we hadn’t seen in metal up until that time. And Dan makes a pretty decent fist of it too although it has to be said that his skills in either discipline are unquestionably fairly minimal. To be honest, his vocals could have fit pretty comfortably on an early thrash metal record from the likes of Dark Angel. They’re very raw & often miss the mark in the pitch department but they get the job done. Dan’s drumming lacks ambition but that’s hardly surprising. He does however keep Exciter moving along at a rip-roaring pace throughout. The guitar sound of John Ricci is perfect for this style of music. There’s no need for polish as John just goes for it & expends every drop of his limited ability in making a ferocious racket that’s both raw, powerful & exciting. His solos sound like he’s hell bent on playing as many notes in a short period as possible but doesn’t quite have the skills to pull it off. He does end up sounding pretty cool though. 

The overall production job on “Heavy Metal Maniac” is exactly what I want to hear from an uncompromising underground metal band & for that reason it may have stunted Exciter’s commercial potential to an extent but has in turn enabled the band to gain a lot of street cred in the process. From an influence point of view, Exciter seem to draw upon the NWOBHM much less often than some of their speed metal contemporaries with the classic metal bands of the 70’s being the more obvious points of reference. The impact that Judas Priest & Motorhead have had on the band is easily discernable & so is that of Black Sabbath during the slower moments. In fact, if I’m completely honest, I find the couple of slower numbers to be the most appealing tracks on the record but the rest of the album is pretty much pedal to the metal from start to finish which is what speed metal is all about of course. 

Unfortunately I’m just not sure that the song-writing is good enough to warrant the heavy praise that “Heavy Metal Maniac” receives on occasions. I do have a fair bit of time for the album but I don’t think the highlights are anything terribly mind-blowing. Plus there are a couple of weaker numbers on the B side that don’t do much for me so I have to admit that I prefer the simple fun of the Acid debut over this one. It’s still certainly worth a listen if you like 80’s speed metal though.