Persuader

Persuader, originating from Umeå, Sweden, made a strong case for entry into power metal’s upper ranks when they unveiled their first album, The Hunter, in 2000. That record carried clear traces of their esteemed Swedish peers Hammerfall as well as the Teutonic approach long associated with Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray. The lineup had taken shape roughly two years earlier around vocalist Jens Karlsson, guitarist Pekka Kiviaho, bassist Fredrik Hedström, and drummer Efraim Juntunen, while additional guitarist Magnus Lindblom supplied several solos on the debut. Kiviaho’s subsequent exit created a short-lived stall, yet the band regained momentum with the 2004 album Evolution Purgatory, which introduced guitarist Emil Norberg. Two years after that release, When Eden Burns appeared and expanded Persuader to a five-piece with the arrival of second guitarist Daniel Sundbom. No new recordings have followed, chiefly because Karlsson and Norberg have maintained parallel roles in the German power metal act Savage Circus, leaving the group’s future status unresolved.