Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Persuader - When Eden Burns (2006)

Persuader was one of the bands I started listening to a couple years ago in an attempt to revive my power metal interest. What was once an incredible genre ended up being generic and out of place for the taste in metal going a more modern heavy direction. And despite the motivation to revive my more melodic past, it all ended up blowing up in my face a year after I discovered this band...

Fast forward to a year later when I was helping Xephyr with the Guardians playlists in his absence, the results of which gave me the courage to give this album another go. And it still blows my mind away! With melodic yet heavy riffing and amazing vocals, I'm glad to still recognize most of the greatness of this Swedish power metal band.

The album's strong opener "Twisted Eyes" begins with a sampled line from Alec Baldwin in the film Malice, "You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something... I am God." Then we blast off through great riffing and vocals. The track has some impressive technical soloing, and there's plenty more in this album. Another track to carve the band's name into the power metal stone is "Slaves of Labour". Same thing with "Sending You Back".

"R.S. Knights" is suitable for some mighty combat battles in RuneScape, which I'm guessing is where the name comes from if the band members play that MMORPG. That song and "The Return" have nice soloing. Many songs are fast enough to almost be considered melodic thrash like the title track. The song that got me into this band via an earlier Guardians playlist is "Judas Immortal", and it's still so awesome! It starts with a Nevermore-like rapid-fire thrash intro, then the vocals come in once again reminding me of Blind Guardian's Hansi Kürsch. Speedy power metal adrenaline from this underrated band!

"Doomsday News" has more impressive vocals. The sing-along chorus has some power metal glory that still touches my heart. The small amount of harsh vocals have a bit of a Children of Bodom vibe. All that's missing is keyboards for soloing, but that would cause too much cheese. Well, the interlude "Zion" has a bit of electronic sampling that leads into beautiful guitar melody. Fast bass and drums blast through "Enter Reality", though I think that closing track is a bit of an afterthought for me. Oh well...

Apparently, Persuader had some turbulence after this album's release which caused the next one's delay. Their label at the time, Dockyard 1 Records shut down, and the band members were focused on other projects. Still the band had strong determination in their writing, and When Eden Burns should've given this underrated band more attention!

Favorites: "Twisted Eyes", "R.S. Knights", "When Eden Burns", "Judas Immortal", "Doomsday News"