Conception
My Dark Symphony

THE REVIEW

It seems incredible, implausible, impossible, like one of those things you don't want to believe, and you ask someone to throw a bucket of water at you or to pull the covers off to get you out of bed, yet it's real: the Conception are back! Yes, exactly them, the little-known Norwegian band that in the '90s stood out for a melodic power metal with progressive shades characterized by a powerful yet very melodic sound, never rough and even elegant, intelligent in the solutions, not exactly easy to assimilate (perhaps that's why they remained in the most niche of niches?), but also melancholic, almost as if metal was wearing a tuxedo, but a strictly black tuxedo. Four truly great albums, characterized by great inspiration, then the breakup right at the peak, after that "Flow" which reduced the power of the guitars but introduced new, often more delicate and electronic sounds, showing that the band still had a lot to say. The regret for what they could have become but also the full enjoyment of the little greatness they had built, and certainly not lacking was the hope of an unlikely return. A reunion materialized in 2005 for some concerts and then remained there... until the spring of 2018 when the band announced the much hoped-for reunion, with an EP in the making and the opening of crowdfunding to finance it.

And here they are again, the EP "My Dark Symphony" brings Conception back to life from where they left us 21 years before, a pity that they do it with only 26 minutes of music and with a production not exactly optimal, which penalizes some ideas, but we cannot afford to be too fussy towards a band that returns after 21 years with a surely limited budget (which probably would make it more difficult to make a real album) and had to rely on crowdfunding to finance the recording. However, listening to these 6 new tracks, you can feel it's them! The dark, melancholic, and sophisticated melodies, the keyboards used in an intelligent and functional way with the right sounds at the right time, then Roy Khan delivers an excellent vocal performance, versatile, dynamic, even unpredictable, managing to change timbre with great dexterity, a vocal octopus, we could call it. The sound, in reality, isn't very metal, the guitars aren't even too prominent, they create the dark atmosphere without imposing themselves, the same goes for the bass, well-constructed lines but without claiming protagonism. A sound that appears unclassifiable, I wonder if it might be attributable to alternative rock/metal, I indeed struggle to label what I've heard, in any case, this EP seems to be the continuation of what they had left behind, it indeed seems to heavily recall the sound offered in "Flow", which as we remember marked a clear departure from the power metal of previous albums in favor of a much more melodious sound and the search for new sounds and atmospheres; indeed, this EP seems to further polish the sound, making it less and less metal.

In any case, don't worry. The guitar gallops and ethereal synths of "Grand Again", the dark-tribal atmosphere of a Nordic autumn forest in "Into the Wild", the solid bass lines and robust rhythm of "Quite Alright", the ingenious "The Moment", with its creative and very studied piano intro that certainly doesn’t sound like the traditional classical-derived intro, but also with its very particular oriental sounds in the second part, up to the slow, orchestral, and dark title track. These new compositions have all it takes to please those who loved this fleeting band and have long awaited their unlikely return. Perhaps the album could have been made, not much more was needed, it was enough to add the big ballad "Feather Moves", present in the single released shortly before and shamefully left out, expand the intro "re:conception" which as it stands seems somewhat useless, and strive to compose at least three more tracks to reach 10, exactly the number of tracks contained in the four glorious albums of the '90s, they with their creativity could have easily managed. But let's be satisfied, we've achieved two things, we've hit two birds with one stone: great new music from a band we thought destined for the album of memories but also the demonstration that those who live on hope don't always end up in despair! Let's hope one day it’s also the turn of Ark, the other band of guitarist Tore Østby, they too threw in the towel very early, even after the second album, that "Burn the Sun" which in 2001 was a bolt from the blue in the progressive metal scene, bringing new ideas to a panorama perhaps still too conditioned and dependent on the Dream Theater style. I would say at this point dreaming is indeed legitimate!