IN YOUR MULTITUDE

"In Your Multitude" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Norwegian power/progressive metal act Conception. The album was released through Noise Records in May 1995. It´s the successor to "Parallel Minds" from 1993 and features one lineup change as keyboard player Hans Christian Gjestvang´s has left. He has not been replaced here, so the keyboards are handled by session musician Trond Nagell-dahl.

Stylistically the material on "In Your Multitude" feel like the natural continuation of the power/progressive metal sound of "Parallel Minds (1993)". The sound is maybe slightly more progressive in nature than the music style on the predecessor, but it´s details which set the two albums apart. And that counts for both musical style and the high quality of the material featured on the two albums. Those expecting an explosion of progressive features like complex song structures, unconventional time signatures, or longer instrumental sections, should look somewhere else, as Conception may use those elements on occasion (like on the longer instrumental section on "A Million Gods"), but they are more in the power metal camp than in the progressive metal ditto. If I should make a comparison to a contemporary act which most people can relate to, I´d mention Queensrÿche, although the influence is only heard occasionally.

The high level musicianship is one of the greatest assets of "In Your Multitude", but anyone familiar with the preceding releases won´t be surprised by that. The instrumentalists are very well playing, and especially guitarist Tore Otsby delivers some strong riffs, very well played guitar solos, and loads of intriguing ideas to the musical landscape of the album. His playing is technical but still tasteful and restrained when the songs call for it. The rhythm section are skilled too and deliver the right heavy pounding performance to back up the riffs and the many great vocal melodies performed by lead vocalist Roy Khan. The latter mentioned is a singer extraordinaire with a strong voice and a powerful and varied delivery. The keyboards are mostly used for atmosphere, but there are moments on the album when they have a more prominent role.

"In Your Multitude" features a well sounding production job, which suits the music perfectly. There is power here and there is clarity enough to hear every detail being played/sung. So upon conclusion "In Your Multitude" is just the right step forward for Conception and it´s a high quality release deserving a 4 star (80%) rating.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)