Persuader
Necromancy

Persuader has been around for quite a while now; the debut was released back in 2000 and since then they have managed four more album counting the one I write about now. Five albums in a long career, seems like they are taking their time with the albums, and I would say that I rather prefer bands that do fewer but better albums than the ones doing plenty but mediocre. So, is this quartet from Sweden such a band that does few but great albums, or are they just pointless overall? Usually this is in the eye of the beholder, one can never say for certain. I can say that the cover looks pretty standard power metal, and that this album comes on the Frontiers label.

Sounds familiar, that is what I figured when hearing this album. There are no surprises on the album, the singer sounds very much like Hansi from Blind Guardian, perhaps an inspiration. The songs are bit up-tempo and shows good energy with the singer showing lots of authority, though I don’t really like his voice that much. Seven tracks are on the album and the playing time feels sensible with around 45 minutes, that is good as there is a slight lack of variation on this album where the songs have a tendency to blend together into a mass of slight déjà vu.

It is a solid effort with the strengths in the high energy and powerful feel, and the weakness has to be the lack of a distinctive hit song. The similitude of the songs makes the album seem a bit flat, it lacks depth and dynamics and the only thing really going for it is the energy. You can go far with energy in metal, but it doesn’t give the album the longevity it need to rise above the average of the genre.

I would not be surprised if fans of the power metal genre will find this album quite appealing, it has some strong elements. So, if you are that kind of fan you will probably be pretty pleased with getting this album, but I think that it is an album that sits somewhere very close to the middle of the range of the power metal quality index.

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