UMUR "The Last Sunset" is the debut full-length studio album by Norwegian power/progressive metal act Conception. The album was released through CSF Records in December 1991. Originally with an artwork featuring a photo of the band members, but Noise Records re-released "The Last Sunset" in 1993 with an alternate cover artwork (which is probably the cover artwork most people are familiar with) featuring a picture of a sunset. Conception formed in 1989 and released a couple of demos before being signed for the release of "The Last Sunset".

Stylistically the material on "The Last Sunset" is a combination of US power/heavy metal (and sporadic touches of Euro power metal), progressive metal, and occasional nods towards thrash metal. The latter is only an influence though and it´s heard very seldom ("Live to Survive" is the most valid example). Conception are often tagged a progressive metal act, but on "The Last Sunset" I´d say they belong more in the power/heavy metal camp, although there are certainly progressive moments featured on the album. The most progressive oriented track on the album is the 10:38 minutes long closing track "Among the Gods", but there are other tracks on the album featuring progressive ideas. Those ideas are however predominantly just a minor feature in vers/chorus structured power/heavy metal tracks. The compositional quality is high throughout and "The Last Sunset" is overall a very well composed album. Although a few tracks stick out and make the album slightly inconsistent in style, it´s not an issue in this particular case, and only makes "The Last Sunset" a more diverse and interesting listen.

One of the great assets of the album (besides the high quality songwriting) is the high level musicianship. The instrumentalists deliver strong performances. Varied guitar work and a hard pounding and powerful playing rhythm section. Lead vocalist Roy Khan has a strong and distinct sounding voice and varied and powerful delivery. His voice reminds me somewhat of Morten Harket from a-ha, but in a heavy metal version. If anyone is in doubt that´s praise when it comes from me. "The Last Sunset" features some keyboards played by session musicians Staffan William-Olsson and Hans Christian Gjestvang, but the keyboards are not a dominant part of the band´s sound on the album. They are most prominently featured on "Among the Gods", which even features a keyboard solo. Gjestvang would become a permanent member of Conception on their sophomore studio album "Parallel Minds (1993)".

"The Last Sunset" features a clear and detailed sounding production. To my ears it lacks a little heavy bottom, and the snare drum is a bit too high and dominant in the soundscape, but overall it´s a well sounding production which suits the material. So upon conclusion "The Last Sunset" is a high quality debut album by Conception. There are a couple of odd songwriting choices, that could probably have been weeded out and made the album a bit more consistent, but as mentioned above the diversity is also one of the charms of the album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved (and maybe a bit too low really).

martindavey87 Let's be honest here, the only reason anyone actively seeks this band out post-1998 is mostly due to vocalist Roy Khan, who would achieve worldwide success with the band Kamelot after Conception disbanded. And I shamelessly joined those ranks when I tracked down this little nugget of joy; 'The Last Sunset'.

It's an alright album, though to be honest, there isn't really a lot to comment on. The music is decent enough, the playing is of a high standard and Khan's singing is good, but a lot of the vocal melodies aren't very inspiring or interesting. There's some nice exotic-sounding guitar licks which give the band a hint of their own identity, but overall, a lot of the songs seem formulaic.

'War of Hate', 'Fairy's Dance' (admittedly I really like this song), 'Another World' and 'Among the Gods' are all good tracks that make Conception's debut worth checking out, but there's just too much unmet potential here for this to be anything more than a decent outing.

arcane-beautiful I won't lie. I am a bit of a Kamelot fan. How could you not love them. Roy Khan is very much one of the sexiest metal singers alive (I'm relying more on the timbre of his voice, rather than actual appearance...as a gay man, he is alright looking). When I first got into the band I was shocked to know that he was not the bands original vocalist and that before he even joined the band he was in a full blooded progressive metal band from Norway called Conception. I was even more joyous to find a copy of their first album in a second hand shop. Win win nostalgic situation.

One of the most interesting parts of the bands sound is the interesting mixture of metal and now and then flamenco guitar moments which spruce up. Mostly the band do have a pretty standard prog metal meets power metal sound. Sound wise the band pretty much have it down, but because this is a first album, you can't expect perfection.

One of the biggest problems with this album would have to be the production. Everything on this album sounds very weak and very quiet. The guitar sound especially. The riffs on this album are pretty cool, but the production just makes it sound very weak. The vocals are mixed very badly too, with Khans voice being rather quiet. It really should be against the law to have as little focus put on Roy Khans voice, cause it is very unique, even if he does sound like a pre pubescent teen on this album (which he probably was at this point).

The opening track “Building A Force” is a pretty great opener with one of the best chorus on the album. Killer riffs and some nice vocals from Khan too.

“War Of Hate” is probably one of the most heavy songs on the album. Having some rather groove metal influenced riffs the band show off their heavier sound. Sadly the production doesn't bode well with the heavy sound of this track.

One of my favorite tracks on the album would have to be “Fairy's Dance.” Having some folk influences, the song's lyrics also tell of a rather comical fantasy inspired tale. Some nice guitar work throughout too.

The title track is probably one of the most interesting moments on the album. Showing off the bands more gentler side, Khans vocals are pretty stellar, with him singing some of the highest notes I've ever heard him sing.

The final track “Among The Gods” is the longest composition on the album. The first half is rather interesting, with a lot of interesting tempo changes throughout. The ending is pretty much an extended instrumental section and I believe it overstays its welcome. Bit too long, but still pretty interesting.

In conclusion, for a debut this album is alright. The passion and material is pretty much there, but you can tell this is very much a band trying to find its feet. The band would go on to do better things, both as Conception and other projects which followed.

6.7/10

Genres: Progressive Metal, Power Metal, Speed Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock

Country of origin: Norway

Year of release: 1993

Sinkadotentree CONCEPTION are a Prog-Metal band out of Norway who no longer exist. Their former singer Khan went on to sing with the Power-Metal outfit KAMELOT. There is a Power-Metal vibe here at times but this is as close to straight-up Prog-Metal as you will hear. I must admit the first half doesn't do a lot for me although it is good, but on the second half of the album they really bring it up a level. Still i feel 3.5 stars is the right rating for me. I own 3 albums from this band and they've never come across as being very dynamic, in fact it's almost vanilla flavoured Prog-Metal but somehow for my tastes it works. Definitely a band i'd suggest checking out so you can judge for yourself.

bonnek Conception’s debut sits closer to power metal or whatever name you wish to give to 90's metal that is dominantly influenced by popular 80's bands such as Halloween, Dio, Ozzy and Priest. Expecting Progressive Metal might lead you in a wrong direction. This is simply competent melodic metal that stands out by the merit of their exceptional vocalist.

I don’t reside too much in this style of music for finding it generally derivative and predictable, often confusing technical skill with progressiveness and an emotional standard that seems to be measured by the height of the singer’s pitch. On the other hand, whatever the genre, there are always a few albums where the magic works. This particular album from Conception can sure be added to that list.

Had I known that Conception featured Kamelot's later singer Roy Khan, I would have checked them out a lot earlier as he is such a talented singer. Similar to Damian Wilson he doesn't need to resort to overstatement; his voice has that inherent intensity and breadth that doesn't need big gestures. It is rather unique, especially in this style of metal occupied by legions of Bruce Dickinson clones.

The fact that this band originates from Norway is probably another element that speaks to me. It is a tad more gloomy then your average prog-metal outing and it has refined vocal melodies all over the place. The focus is on songwriting and not on technicalities. The song material is mostly outstanding and rather diverse, avoiding bombast and empty pathos. A song like Bowed Down With Sorrow, as suggested by its title, comes close to the melodic doom metal of Solitude Aeturnus, other pieces like Live To Survive are a crunchy take on Judas Priest, the 10 minute closer, Among The Gods is the prog moment, adding nice touches of flamenco and Latin music into their metal sound. Not an obvious experiment but with a tasteful result.

This album offers nothing original or outstanding but inspiration and passion ride high throughout. A great discovery for me in a style of music that generally doesn't excite me much.