POWERRAGE, Featuring Former EXCITER Guitarist JOHN RICCI, Seeks New Vocalist Following Split With JACQUES BÉLANGER
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POWERRAGE, the new band featuring former EXCITER guitarist John Ricci, is seeking a new vocalist following the apparent recent departure of Jacques Bélanger.
On Saturday, September 26, the POWERRAGE, social media shared a photo of Ricci, alongside bassist Todd Pilon (formerly of WITCHKILLER) and drummer Lucas Dery, and included the following message: "POWERRAGE LOOKING FOR NEW SINGER! Please send submissions to: powerrage.6661@gmail.com".
Bélanger, who previously sang on three EXCITER albums: "The Dark Command" (1997),"Blood Of Tyrants" (2000) and "New Testament" (2004),was the featured vocalist on POWERRAGE's debut album, "Beast", which arrived in April 2026 via High Roller Records. The LP was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound and it features artwork by Mario Lopez.
In a recent interview with Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of Rock Interview Series, Ricci stated about how POWERRAGE's formation came about: "Well, after [I left] EXCITER in 2018, I just wanted to take a break from everybody and everything, 'cause after decades of dealing with certain situations and traveling and all that kind of stuff, I just needed to get away. But I've said many times, Todd, our bass player, kind of encouraged me to speed it up a little bit and put a new band together. So, Todd and I were the first two of the lineup. And then, of course, we needed vocals. So Jacques Bélanger, who played on three EXCITER records, I called him up and asked him if he was interested, but I told him, 'It's not gonna be EXCITER number two.' I just wanted to move on and try something different, but without losing the essence of what EXCITER was or what I'm about. And he was totally into it when I contacted him. So I did tell him the vocal style was gonna be a bit different from the way he normally sings. And again, he was okay with that. The toughest thing was the drummer, trying to find the right drummer. So we did try drummers, but for one reason or another, they didn't work out. I had an ad out for a drummer, and we got a call from Lucas, who's our drummer now. And I liked his attitude on the phone, when he called me. So, to me, the attitude is 50% of if it's gonna be successful or not. So we gave him some songs. He came down to our rehearsal hall right here, and he passed the audition. So his background is not really an all-out metal drum style — that's not what his roots are — but he did adapt very, very well to what I wanted and what my vision is. And he bought a bigger drum kit — more of a heavy metal double-bass kit, and et cetera, et cetera. And then I got really deep into the songwriting."
While Ricci and Bélanger were both members of EXCITER, John wanted to make one thing perfectly clear. "Well, with this band I didn't want to be another EXCITER," he said in a press release. "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," he continued.
"I wrote everything on 'Beast': music, lyrics, melodies," Ricci explained. "POWERRAGE is 100 % my musical vision. All eight songs are brand-new — no rehashed riffs from my EXCITER days."
EXCITER's latest album, "Death Machine", which featured Ricci as the sole remaining original member, was released in October 2010 via Massacre Records.
Ricci, Beehler and Johnson reunited as EXCITER in 2014 and had been playing sporadic shows until John's latest departure.
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
