The ploy worked, and by late the following year, bandmembers Dan Wetmore (vocals, guitar), Jeff Potts (guitar), Ben Mottsman (bass), and Adam Haritan (drums) had moved there permanently and been contracted to Nuclear Blast, who suggested they find a new name and packed them off to Germany to record with respected producer Andy Classen, of Holy Moses fame. The latter's extensive experience behind the boards (he's also produced albums by Krisiun, Belphegor, Dew-Scented, and others) proved to be a perfect match for Mantic Ritual's classicist revision of the Bay Area thrash template (particularly reminiscent of Exodus and Vio-Lence), which eventually took shape with debut album Executioner, released in early 2009. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia