That Devil Music has issued an interview with EXCITER guitar legend John Ricci. An excerpt follows:

Q: Despite the fact that the band has been around since 1980, you guys never managed to get to the same level as many of your contemporaries such as The Big 4 (METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX) or even the “second tier” thrash bands like OVERKILL and TESTAMENT. Why do you think this was? A lot of your work was on par with many of those bands in my opinion.

A: "Thanks for the compliment about our music but the problem why Exciter never excelled like the bands you mentioned was because of lack of management and lack of interest from the industry and also that we are located in Canada (which is a big negative). It was so stupid for example when we toured or played one-off shows in the US, Canada and Europe all the industry people I would to talk backstage would tell us how great we were but the moment I would ask them if they would be interested in signing us they would pass on us. There is some negative stigma attached to us and I don`t know why. Currently we have a manager in the US (Jeff Keller Management) an agent in LA (Artists WorldWide) and an agent in Europe (ITM) so things are looking promising now and hopefully we can continue climbing the ladder after 30 years!"

Read the full interview at this location.

Massacre Records released Exciter's new album, Death Machine, in February in North America.

Since helping to forge the North American thrash movement in the '80s, Exciter's layered 34-year career has elevated them to legendary status, and their most recent album, 2010's Death Machine delivers nine-songs of the expected headbashing mayhem fans worldwide have come to expect from the outfit.

Featuring founding guitarist and mastermind John Ricci, singer Kenny Winter, bassist Rob Cohen and drummer Rich Charron, Exciter once again worked with longtime producer Manfred Leidecker who produced nearly all of the band's releases since 1990. The production on Death Machine compliments the grinding rhythms and speed that has held the band's name as one of the most classic speed metal bands ever, while lyrically the the theme of the album addresses sadistic unforgiving torture and the demented individuals who deliver such horrific pain and suffering onto others.

Death Machine tracklisting:

'Death Machine'

'Dungeon Descendants'

'Razor In Your Back'

'Pray For Pain'

'Power And Domination'

'HellFire'

'Demented Prisoners'

'Slaughtered In Vain'

'Skull Breaker'

More on Exciter at this location.