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PowerRage: John Ricci on New Beginnings, Old School Roots, and Going It Alone - (Email Interview) 2/27/26

 


The band has an interesting origin story. How did PowerRage come together, and what was the moment you all knew this was something you wanted to pursue seriously?

In 2022, our bassist, Todd Pilon, approached me to start a new band. I have known Todd for many years. I had no intention of starting a new band anytime soon, but I planned to continue at some point. Eventually, I agreed on the condition that I do all the songwriting, and all the band members agreed to it. I called Jacques Belanger, our singer, whom I had played with before on three Exciter albums: The Dark Command, Blood Of Tyrants, and New Testament. We auditioned our drummer, Lucas Der, in 2024. He passed, and the whole band was complete. When I started writing the songs for a potential album, all of them had incredible hooks and memorable guitar riffs. We felt the magic in our rehearsal hall, and at that moment, we all thought we had a good chance to stand out. That's when PowerRage was born.

For anyone coming in fresh, how would you describe your sound?

Our sound is a combination of old school thrash, dark doom riffing, and high energy punk, basically the three elements that shaped my guitar style in the late seventies when I started Exciter.

Who were your biggest musical influences growing up, and how do you see them showing up in your music today?

Like most metal guitar players of my era, my influences were Sabbath, Priest, Motörheaand, and Saxon. But when you listen to the PowerRager album, you don't really hear any direct references to those bands, because I always try to be original rather than copy anyone else. I just use them as inspiration and motivation.


What has the local music scene meant to your growth as a band?

I've never paid any attention to the local music scene in my own hometown. I've always set my goals for a worldwide market. My hometown has zero influence on my vision or what I want to achieve. Unfortunately, Exciter, PowerRage, and I have never gotten any support from our city, Ottawa, Canada. So, besides our hometown not supporting us, even the world market is a tough endeavour when it comes to being respected and recognised as a band making a genuine artistic contribution.




(This interview was conducted via email and has been lightly edited for clarity.)

PowerRage's debut album is out April 24, 2026! And if this conversation is anything to go by, they're just getting started!

Check out my review of Beast here: PowerRage - Beast

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