Conception - State of Deception (2020)

With Roy Khan reviving Conception back in 2018, the band took a while to deliver their return full-length “State of Deception”. Delivering around 40 minutes of music, this release has that old Kamelot vibe with a few sprinkles of Evergrey and Queensrÿche. The nine tracks here are catchy and engaging and will surely be loved by Roy Khan fans, as his vocals take front and center to solid songwriting skills and crafty arrangements.

After the mood setting intro, the album kicks off with the hard rocking “Of Raven and Pigs”, a track that starts a bit slow and it takes a while to settle with its lush vocal melodies and crafty guitars. With “Waywardly Broken”, the band goes into that Power/Progressive Metal vibe that we were expecting, thanks to the lively vocal leads and lush atmospheric keyboards. Thankfully, “No Rewind” continues this mood with dynamic guitars and crafty tempo changes, making it one of our favorite songs in this release.

For those looking into the more melodramatic side of things, “The Mansion” delivers your typical Power Ballad with lush arrangements and a killer vocal duet with Elize Ryd. The band gets back to business with the excellent “By the Blues” and the moody “Anybody Out There”, both tracks filled with crafty vocal melodies and powerful guitars. The weirdly titled “She Dragoon”, has a very nice proggy edge to it, thanks to the tight drumming and Tore Østby’s guitar wizardry.

Closing with the melancholic “Feather Moves”, the band leaves on a high note thanks to the song's very cinematic feeling. Overall, “State of Deception” is one of those releases that takes a bit to get going, but once it ‘warms up’ it is a pretty solid release. We are sure that any Roy Khan fan will greatly enjoy it, if they are not expecting anything too dramatically different to his previous work. Conception has unleashed a solid release that any Power/Progressive Metal fan will gladly enjoy.

Label: Self-Released - Order Here

Release: April 3rd, 2020

Genre: Power/Progressive Metal

Country: Norway