Band:	Persuader
Album:	Evolution Purgatory
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	2004
A review by:	Undercraft

01. Strike Down
02. Sanity Soiled
03. Masquerade
04. Godfather
05. Turn To Dust
06. Passion/Pain
07. Raise Hell
08. To The End
09. Fire At Will
10. Wipe Out
11. Domination [Pantera cover] [Japanese bonus]

I don't know other way to start my review than saying, What an ugly cover art for God's sake!! Ahhh that was liberating? just what my psychiatrist recommended.
Anyway, despite obvious esthetics problems, the sophomore effort of these young Swedes is a energetic Power Metal album, filled with aggression and excellent guitar work, but that's not all, the album also features the first Heavy Metal clone!

Maybe the guys at Persuader are tired to read this in every single review out there, but their vocalist Jens Carlsson is a fucking living clone of Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian!
Besides that the vocals are almost the same from Blind Guardian, add the fact that this album was produced by Piet Sielck, and the fact that he sings some back up vocals in some songs, we have a Blind Guardian album with another title: Persuader.

But no! that's what you'll hear and read anywhere! Yours truly has a different concept of the little album here, because, yes, it resembles Blind Guardian, and in my first listen I thought it was pure crap, but further listening reveals a lot of secrets, like some growls! Yes! Jens can sing, sure, but he can also growl as by possessed by and evil force, just take a look at "Masquerade" and "Turn To Dust" two great songs where Jens unleashes the fury within.

The songs are quite catchy, and seems like there's no fillers in the album, although some songs left me somewhat unsatisfied, it was the craving for more of the same or the dissatisfaction of a little bite?
And since I'm a very positive reviewer, I have a little advice for Persuader: Please keep developing the aggressive side, add more grunted vocals and explore new territories, the music is fine, but is too alike to Blind Guardian, and that's a very hard tag to live with.
I hope next Persuader album contains more aggressive parts, and some more growls, until then, I prefer to listen Blind Guardian.