With the recent departure of founding guitarist John Ricci, Canadian speed legends Exciter revealed that Daniel Dekay (Diemonds, BangerTV) would be taking the position as the new guitarist for the band.

Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice spoke to Exciter bassist Allan Johnson, and for the first time in an interview, Daniel Dekay. They talk about Ricci's exit, Dekay's entrance, and a new album. Listen below.

On the sudden departure of John Ricci, Allan Johnson reveals: "That is still somewhat of a mystery, we haven't seen or actually spoke with John Ricci since it happened. We got back from our Singapore gig and we started some email chats back and forth and John Ricci just said that he is getting fed up and he wants out. Dan Beehler and I were quite surprised about this.

"First thing I said to John was we've got tentative shows next year. So John said, 'you and Dan can go ahead and do the shows without me', and that was pretty much it. John did not give a solid reason why, I don't know what he meant by fed up? John said, 'yeah I am definitely out'.

"It's funny cause the first thing I said to Dan about this was, 'guess what it's 1985 all over again'. It's like deja-vous. Back in 1985 we came back from a US tour and John said, 'I am out, I don't want to do it anymore', and me and Dan were like we have a German tour in a month what do you want to do? John said, 'do it without me'. So it was total deja-vous."

A longtime friend of the Exciter family, Daniel  Dekay was a natural choice and a perfect fit to keep this thrash machine pounding.

Dekay joins forces with original members Dan Beehler and Allan Johnson to round out this lineup of the band which is already working on new tunes with plans for a full length studio record. Stay tuned.

Says the band: "Much more to come for you maniacs! All press, booking, and other inquiries can be sent to exciterband@gmail.com."

(Photo - Theo Rallis)