It's been 12 years since Canadian metal legends Exciter released their most recent studio album Death Machine, but this year or next year might just change that, as guitarist Daniel Dekay recently gave The Metal Crypt some insight on their long-awaited new album, confirming that a number of songs are completed and the band is currently shopping for record labels to release it.

When asked when fans can expect new music from Exciter, Dekay said: "I think we were hitting a good streak with writing and demoing prior to the pandemic, and then the pandemic hit. Al, Dan and I live in different provinces in Ontario and Quebec in Canada. There was a travel ban between provinces. Old-school heavy metal sometimes means old-school mentality, which means not fully embracing technology. For us to write music and record music, we need to be in the same room. The pandemic really put a very fast stop to us getting together to work on music. By the time we were able to get back together in the same room, it was already time to get back to working on a live set. There are a handful of songs that are in various stages of completion. Some are done with vocals and solos already, some don't have any leads, some don't have any vocals. There are songs in all sorts of different stages. Plus, Dan Beehler has a million song ideas in his brain and Al Johnson has a million song ideas in his brain. Honestly, man, it's going to be a case of getting through these shows that we've had booked for two years. In August, we fulfill the rest of our Euro shows. We have three festivals, a couple of Scandinavian shows, and some UK shows that have been booked forever that we need to do. There's a couple of US shows in October, November. After that, we should be able to focus on writing again. The intention is still to release a full-length record and to give the fans what they want. Even in my contributions, I do like to make Exciter my own in the style that I play John's songs and the style I play Brian McPhee's songs. I do try and make it my own, but at the end of the day, for a new record, I want my influence to be felt, but I want it to be true Exciter for the old-school fans because they deserve that, and the intention is still to put out a full-length record. I just don't have more of a timeline and we have to get through these live shows first. Then we can get together. We do it the old-school way. We like to be in the same room."

On who has been involved in the new album's songwriting process, Dekay commented: "Dan and Al completely. Dan and Al get together and flesh out songs. It's incredible. Dan Beehler is a drummer who doesn't play guitar, but he'll hum riffs to you. He hums a riff. He's like, 'Yes, I want a picking part to sound like, [*humming a rhythm*]' I'm like, 'All right.' You flesh it out that way. It's very old school, man. It's very, very cool. Dan and Al telling me this is how they wrote songs in the '80s. Someone would come to the room with an idea or Dan would have an idea and hum it out, and John would play it on guitar, or Dan's brother, Richard, was the fourth member of Exciter. He would help out with songwriting and song titles and lyric ideas and all sorts of stuff. It's always been a cool collaborative effort. Dan and Al really, they get together and bless their souls, man, they get together, and they come up with some crazy cool ideas. Then they send me their ideas that they recorded at the jam space together and I add on from there. It's a really cool collaborative process, but they're definitely predominantly the songwriters. They know what they want and I'm happy to facilitate their vision however I can."

Dekay was also asked if there is a record label that will release the new album. His reply was: "Yes, there are three labels that email me weekly asking when I'm going to have a record to send them. I don't know which of the three labels that we'll end up with. Maybe it'll be a fourth label. Yes, there's significant interest. Literally weekly I get a check-in from someone at a label asking if I have a record for them yet. They're willing to make offers without even hearing a song. It's pretty funny. Yes, there's lots of interest. I'm sure that we're going to find a great home for the album. We'll go with whatever feels right."

Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Exciter