 Release:
High Roller Records
24.04.2026
Info:
“I am really excited about 2026,” says John Ricci. And the legendary guitar player has every right to be excited. While the metal public did not hear very much from him after the live work with the original Exciter line-up between 2014 and 2018, Ricci is now back with his own band.
Besides him, POWERRAGE consists of bassist Todd Pilon (formerly of Witchkiller), drummer Lucas Dery and last but not least vocalist Jacques Bélanger, who previously sang on three Exciter albums: »The Dark Command« (1997), »Blood Of Tyrants« (2000) and »New Testament« (2004). »Beast« is the name of the debut album by POWERRAGE, due to be released via High Roller Records.
While with John Ricci and Jacques Bélanger there are two former Exciter members in POWERRAGE, John likes make one thing perfectly clear: “Well, with this band I didn’t want to be another Exciter. It was time to move on. Even though Exciter was based around my guitar style, and it was a successful formula, I wanted to start from scratch and start all over again. Starting over and not depending on your past accomplishments is definitely a very difficult task but I feel confident enough I can make it happen. I wrote everything on »Beast«: music, lyrics, melodies. POWERRAGE is 100 % my musical vision. All eight songs are brand-new, no rehashed riffs from my Exciter days.”
Listening to extremely heavy numbers like “Dark Wings”, “Haunted Hell” or the almost punkish “I Torture I Kill”, POWERRAGE (the band name goes back to the seventies) might indeed be a fresh start for the one and only John Ricci.
"Beast" was mixed and mastered by Dan Swano at Unisound. Album artwork by Mario Lopez.
"Dark Wings" - Official Lyric Video: https://youtu.be/w7c0ttbZg2I
Tracklist:
1. Dark Wings
2. Cremation Damnation
3. Dragon Man
4. Haunted Hell
5. I Torture I Kill
6. The Devil is Screaming
7. Damned and Cursed
8. The Black Mass
Line-up:
Jacques Bélanger - Vocals
John Ricci - Guitars
Todd Pilon - Bass
Lucas Dery - Drums
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