Chris Gatto: One thing I noted about Ritual Servant when their debut came out in 2019 was the absence of any pictures or information about the band members in the liner notes, just the line \u201cAll glory to God.\u201d That struck me as being a very humble move…but also very frustrating as a journalist trying to cover the band. So, Ryan, my question is- did you play on Metallum Evangelii<\/em>, or did you join later?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ryan Roebuck: I didn\u2019t play on Metallum Evangelii<\/em>. I was fan of the album when it came out. I joined in late 2020. Patrick and Seth are great and humble guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a four year gap between the debut and Albus Mendacium<\/em>. Were Patrick and Seth actively looking for members to round out the band during that time? How did you get involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the first album they used two session players. Writing had begun for the new album in early 2020 and then of course covid happened. Later that year, they were looking for a lead guitarist for the new album. Patrick saw one of my playing videos on facebook and reached out to me. After chatting, I told him I would play some lead on \u201cInto the Swine.\u201d We gelled together and I joined the band. Over the next two and a half years we worked on Albus<\/em> gradually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a guitarist, it must be a lot of fun to be in a full-on thrash outfit. How taxing was it for you to do the leads on the new album?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not taxing at all. Lots of fun actually. I\u2019m pretty hard on myself, so I really try to be intentional about what I play. Whether it\u2019s a fast or slow solo, I try to write passages that accent the music and help to further the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there a particular them to this album? The title is Latin for \u201cwhite lie\u201d and the cover art shows a wolf in disguise preaching to a congregation of sheep.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely. The album is really a cry to believers to beware of false prophets. Test what you hear. We live in an age where they are running rampant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure. It\u2019s always been prudent advice to measure what you hear or read against what the Word says, and probably now more than ever. Ritual Servant\u2019s mantra is \u201cScripture based Christ exalted metal,\u201d right? No beating around the bush, no second guessing what the band\u2019s intent is.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s right. Ritual Servant aims to be very clear where lyrical content is derived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s great for metalheads that like the sound of a band like Slayer, but avoid listening to them because of their objectionable lyrics and anti-christian bent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The band released this material in a novel way. Singles were released on 45\u2019s, ahead of the full album release, and all four 7\u201d vinyls together form a picture. Vinyl seems to be resurging even more than cds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely! It\u2019s fun watching both of those formats make a resurgence! With the 7\u201d records, you get a very cool piece of artwork if you collect all four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s always more satisfying to have the music in a physical format and fully see what the artist envisioned their music to be. (Some would make the same argument about magazines and I wouldn\u2019t disagree.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you close in proximity to the other members, or was this another internet recording?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Patrick is in Myrtle Beach. Seth is in Columbia. I\u2019m in Atlanta. So we\u2019re not too terribly far from each other. I have a home studio. Seth has a home studio. Patrick is down the road from his studio. So we are able to do our parts in our own studios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I enjoyed the intro to \u201c40 Years\u201d and the prayer of \u201cRevelations 3:16\u201d because they brought variety to the album. What songs spoke to you as you were recording them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was interesting because Patrick asked me to write an acoustic intro to \u201c40 Years.\u201d The heavy part was already done. So, I was kinda thinking I\u2019d like to do a dual acoustic thing. I prayed about it and the music just flowed out in no time. I recorded it and what you hear is exactly what God sent. It\u2019s always amazing to me how that happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nice. Albus Mendacium<\/em> is available now from Roxx Records. What\u2019s next for the band, and for you, Ryan?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ritual Servant has a special single we will be releasing this summer. Stay tuned! As far as me, I am working on Motivik\u2019s sophomore album. It has eleven tracks and is coming along nicely! In typical Motivik fashion, it has some interesting musical change-ups and guests!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very good. Blessings to you, Ryan. Hope to see\/hear from you soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you, sir! God bless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thrash is still a style of metal to be reckoned with, as many of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1021],"tags":[65,255,2157],"class_list":["post-9625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features-d97","tag-chris-gatto","tag-ritual-servant","tag-ryan-roebuck"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Ritual-Servant-album-cover-400x400-1.jpg\")
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