THE LAST SUNSET

"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).

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)