Review by Felix on March 7, 2021.

Yes, I still feel the knife. It's in me since I bought this EP in addition to the glorious Long Live the Loud. I was so fascinated by the full-length that I did not hesitate a single minute to get Feel the Knife as soon as possible. My craziness for Exciter at this time was both a blessing and a curse - a blessing because I had plenty of fun with their outputs heretofore; a curse because of buying blindly the following Unveiling the Wicked, the document of a completely unexpected decline of my heroes.

From a commercial viewpoint, this EP kept Exciter in mind. Viewed objectively, Feel the Knife was nothing more than an impertinence. Less than three minutes of new music were filled with two live recordings. But from my perspective, it was a gift of the gods. Okay, I must point out that only the A-Side seemed to me to be a divine creation. The B-Side did not suit exactly my taste, I never liked live recordings. Of course, 'Violence and Force' kills rapidly and 'Pounding Metal' features a memorable riff - but we knew all that before. Therefore these recordings were not worth mentioning. This also applies for the layout. It was miserable and looked cheap.

But 'Feel the Knife' compensates for that. It shares the fate of "Total Eclipse", the underrated B-Side of Maiden´s "Run to the Hills" that could not get a place on "The Number of the Beast". The magnificent leads get straight to the point, the powerful verse gives us a glimpse of how good Long Live the Loud could had been if Exciter would had included this one on their full-length. Perhaps they should had further refine it, because it reveals nothing uncharacteristic. But exactly for this reason I enjoy the song. It does not appear artificial, it provides 100% Exciter. And that's what I was looking for. An outstanding song, as well as 'I am the Beast', 'Sudden Impact' or other highlights of the full-length and still much better than 'Riders from Darkness' that they also released in 1985. This tune appeared merely as their contribution to a compilation; listen to it and you will imagine the reason for this kind of isolation.

Thinking now thoroughly about the situation, I must admit that I even like the B-Side and the cover. But do not take it seriously, I just bask in nostalgic memory...

Rating: 8 out of 10