Excel announce release of lost album, 'Seeking Refuge'

Los Angeles crossover veterans, Excel, have announced release details of their forgotten album, Seeking Refuge.

Originally release in 1995, the album will see a release on all formats via Southern Lord on July 19. Today the band share the video for the album’s opening track, Unenslaved, featuring star skateboarder, Tony Alva, which you can watch below.

Following Excel’s classic albums, Split Image (1987) and The Joke’s On You (1989), out of print for decades before recently selling out on Record Store 2024, Seeking Refuge will finally get its due with a worldwide release. The reissue will also feature guest appearance from H.R. of Bad Brains on the track, Take Your Part Gotta Encourage.

“A lot of people who know Excel don’t necessarily know about this record,” says bassist Shaun Ross. “It’s been out of print since ’95, and it was just kind of forgotten.”

At the time that Seeking Refuge was recorded, Ross was working for Fuct streetwear and living in their warehouse. “One of the owners had a friend who knew H.R. from Bad Brains, and they just dropped him off at the studio,” he recalls. “He ended up living with me for the better part of the year in the Fuct warehouse. It was a crazy time.”

Produced by Ron Champagne, (Jane’s Addiction, Alice In Chains), Seeking Refuge didn’t fit into any of heavy music’s prefab categories circa ’95. “We didn’t get a great response,” Ross recalls. “Between ’90 and ’95, the market for thrash and even punk kind [of] died with grunge becoming so popular. And we didn’t use our original logo, which in retrospect was a big deal because it didn’t look like an Excel record. We fixed that for the reissue.”

In late 2023, Ross and vocalist Dan Clements welcomed two new members, guitarist Greg Cerwonka (Take Offense) and drummer Damon DeLaPaz (Fenix TX) “We’ve already started writing. The goal is to record in 2024 and have a new album out by 2025,” says Ross.