Exciter @ Foufounes Electriques
w/ Tower, and Samurai
October 19th, 2023
Dungeon Works Productions
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Exciter are a legendary Canadian heavy metal band, no doubt. One of the earliest groups purporting the style of speed metal that broke through the boundary into thrash early on in the 80’s, their 1983 record Heavy Metal Maniac is a bona fide classic of the genre, and no doubt inspired countless other bands and musicians in their pursuit of raw animal speed and rampaging riffage. Ergo, seeing these guys live was a bucket list item for me, especially considering they’re getting up there in their years as a band. This current tour that the band has embarked on is in support of the 40th anniversary of their debut album, after all. Thus, I had to go see them.
The first band to open the night once I showed up at Foufounes Electriques was Samurai, a relatively newer band from Montreal who truly embrace the old school style of 80’s speed metal, no doubt heavily inspired by groups like Judas Priest. Their riffs are tasty, their drumming is tight, and the vocals reach a falsetto pitch that suits the music perfectly and hearkens back to that age old style that helped put metal on the map. My own band Ratpiss had played with Samurai before so I knew what to expect from them. Unfortunately, the main stage in Foufs is rather small, and when you have five people up on that stage with multiple drum sets, cabs, and other gear, things risk getting wonky. Having also performed on that stage before, I can say I find it frustrating. Instead of the typical organization of things, with the drummer in the back and the singer at the front, flanked by the guitarists and bassist on either side, the band was forced to line up in a straight line from left to right. It makes for a strange visual and I also think it may have somewhat hampered their performance. It seemed like there were a few moments where the guitars fell out of sync with the drumming, which seemed to have been caused by the unfamiliar stage setup. Regardless of that, Samurai’s performance was mostly good. They have some killer riffage and a great sound and I’m sure they’ll go far in the realm of NWOTHM-style bands in this part of the country. I look forward to seeing them again.
Following Samurai it was time for Tower to take the stage. If anyone has read this blog and read my review of their record Shock to the System you’ll know that I am a HUGE fan of this New York City power metal powerhouse. Seriously. This band is going places. Not only is their record incredible, but their performance of it live was similarly impeccable. They played most of my favourite songs from that album, including “Blood Moon”, “Prince of Darkness”, “Running Out of Time”, “Lay Down the Law”, and the instrumental ripper “Metatron”. Every one of the band members was on fire and gave their all for this performance. It’s so clear that vocalist Sarabeth Linden is right at home on the stage as she gripped the audience and did not let go for the duration of their set. Guitarists James Danzo and Zak Penley as well as bassist Philippe Arman all looked like they were having the time of their life, as did drummer Keith Mikus. When a band not only rips through their set with passion and verve, but also shows that they really fucking enjoy what they do, that translates into the audience. This has to be, without a doubt, one of the best performances I’ve seen all year. What an incredible show.
Following Tower it was time for the main act. Exciter, the legendary Canadian thrashers of yore, emerged onto the stage to take out whatever remained of the crowd after Tower fervently destroyed them with blazing riffs and soaring vocals. Drummer and vocalist Dan Beehler, as well as bassist Allan Johnson are both founding members of the band, and all these years later are still going strong on their respective instruments. Beehler’s behemothic kit was impressive to behold, with a ridiculous amount of cymbals encircling his wild, silver mullet and handlebar mustache. Newer to the fold, however, was guitarist Daniel Dekay, who has been with the band since 2018. Let me tell you, this guy was nuts. He was running around the stage and jumping up and down like a fucking true heavy metal maniac, all while ripping incredibly tasteful, beautiful, and mesmerizing solos. This guy can play like a fucking demon, and you can tell that he feels right at home on that stage, playing songs that he probably grew up listening to. The band ripped through a ton of classics from their first record like “Iron Dogs” and “Rise of the Dead” as well as a smattering of songs from some of their other earlier albums. They did frequently stop in between songs to address the crowd, and at a certain point it became repetitive to listen to Beehler shout about the 40th anniversary of Heavy Metal Maniac, but whatever. These guys have been around long enough, they deserve to play their shows in whatever way they want. The crowd, who had been mostly docile aside from headbanging and singing along up until this point, finally broke out into some much needed moshing, which yours truly also took part in. There was a ton of crowd surfing and stage diving and people were fucking going nuts for these guys. Some chick even got up on stage and flashed her tits to the audience. It was wild. They played for about an hour, left the stage, then came back and finished things off with a cover of “Iron Fist” by Motorhead as an encore.
This was definitely one of the best shows I’ve been to in a hot minute, and might end up having been one of my favourites of the year. If you ever get a chance to see Tower I highly recommend you do so. They’ll knock your socks off. The same can be said for Exciter. As an alumni band from metal’s glory days, you might not get too many more opportunities to see them, so I can say for sure that it’s worth it to go catch them if you can. The price of admission is a pittance for the sonic bewilderment that awaits you beyond the gates.
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 