It’s Friday! As a follow-up to the topic of symphonic metal started by Osture in the previous edition of Musicellaneous, this time I’d like to tell you about once-existed German band Beyond the Bridge.
During its lifetime the band has recorded the only album, but it’s a real masterpiece (you wouldn’t see them in this series otherwise).
The Old Man and the Spirit
Beyond the Bridge first appeared in 1999 as a school project in Frankfurt (Germany) titled Fall Out. After the graduation the friends went to different cities to continue their study. It wasn’t until 2005 that the guitarist Peter Degenfeld-Schonburg has got the idea of a concept album, which he then developed for the next five years.
The only album released by the band, The Old Man and the Spirit (2012), is such a quality work that some even call it “possibly the greatest progressive metal album of all time”.
The essence of the story is a dialogue of an old man (sung by Herbie Langhans), desperate to conceive the meaning of life, with a spirit (vocals by Dilenya Mar). The spirit, on the other hand, has the wisdom of the world but is seeking to understand real-life experiences. So she offers the old man a deal: the old man surrenders his memories but acquires the wisdom in return.
What’s inside is intense progressive-symphonic sound, masterly played instruments and the vocals by Dilenya Mar, which gives me the shivers.
The recording had started in 2008 and, like with Ostura, the progress proved to be pretty slow. The album was only finalised in 2011 and released by Frontiers Records in January 2012.
Line-up
All project’s members play their instruments at a professional level. They have scored various awards, mainly in the classical and jazz genres.
- Herbie Langhans — vocals
- Dilenya Mar — vocals
- Peter Degenfeld-Schonburg — guitar
- Christopher Tarnow — keyboards
- Dominik Stotzem — bass
- Fabian Maier — drums
- Simon Oberender — keyboards/guitar
Discography
 | 2012 | The Old Man and the Spirit |
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