Conception

Norwegian power metal group Conception produced four solid albums throughout the 1990s, though commercial success remained elusive despite the musicians' subsequent achievements in other projects. Their debut arrived in 1991 as an independent, Norway-exclusive release titled The Last Sunset. Vocalist Roy S. Khan, guitarist Tore Østby, bassist Ingar Amlien, and drummer Arve Heimdal then brought in keyboardist Hans Christian Gjestvang to record the follow-up Parallel Minds two years later. Noise Records handled distribution for this album and a reissue of the first, which unexpectedly reached position 23 on the Japanese charts amid a period when melodic heavy metal infused with progressive rock elements enjoyed popularity there. In Your Multitude came out as the third record in 1995, yet mounting pressures from mixed critical and audience reactions—positive only in Japan along with certain European countries, negative in most other places—led the band to disband after releasing Flow in 1997, which included keyboard contributions from Trond Nagell-Dahl. Khan soon joined the American progressive metal act Kamelot, Østby achieved prominence as a guitarist in Ark, and the rhythm section pursued black metal with Crest of Darkness.