But could you please start off by introducing the readers to Beyond the Bridge? - Peter from Beyond the Bridge explains...

The music and lyrics are written by Christopher and me. At first sight the songs can be seen in the context of Progressive Rock or Progressive Metal. They contain virtuosity in both the playing and the compositional design. But with the two singers and especially with our way of arranging the songs and vocal lines we have created something which has been rarely heard before. Dilenyas voice is very unusual in the Rock/Metal genre and it adds something to the music which is fresh and indeed progressive.

But it is more important to say that the songs themselves will excite the listeners. Nothing is just made for showing off technical skills. The music is touching. It will even touch you in a different way each time you listen to it. Inspiring and ambiguous lyrics with combination of a large variety of musical styles will accompany the listeners through the story of the conceptual album.

The story of the band, however, is not the most usual one. We started out as a school band. Back then it was Dominik, Christopher and Peter. After their graduation, Christopher decided to become a recording engineer. During his studies he met Simon. That was a very important step in the history of the band as Simon went to the Gate Studios after finishing the University. Simon heard our music and decided to produce it. Luckily Sascha Paeth and the others at the Gate Studio gave us the opportunity to record our music. Simon also brought Fabian and Herbie to the band and Peter met Dilenya at a concert of hers in Munich, Germany.

The mastering of the Cd was finished in April 2011. Finally in September/October of 2011 we contacted Frontiers Records. Up to this point we have rarely been rehearsing and we never played a live Show. But we had a concept album and a signed contract. I have to admit that all of this sounds as if BtB is a project and not a real band. Indeed, it started out as a project but now the members grew together and we are a real band ready to present "The old Man and the Spirit" live on stage!

And now onto "The Old Man and the Spirit"… track-by-track, what inspired you, what topics are you dealing with, what do what to express with this song etc.

Btb – Since this is a concept album let me give you an overview of the story and of my motivation behind it before we focus on each one of the songs.

The whole album was inspired by a situation where I had to decide what I am going to do next with my life. It was after finishing High-School. I had two possible choices. Either I become a musician or I study physics. I believed that physics could be able to reveal the answers to the questions I have been having as a teenager. These were questions that you can find in typical popular scientific literature. Basically questions about the universe, elementary particles, quantum mechanics and stuff like that. On the other hand there was music. And I guess I don´t have to tell you that music can be the most intensive experience sometimes. At the end I decided to go for physics. But as it turns out now, I am back to music.

However, back then the decision I had to make gave me the motivation to write an album where we basically oppose humanity to overall awareness. Of course there is a lot behind the words "humanity" and "awareness". To be a bit more accurate you could say that we oppose experience to knowledge, insignificance to sense, felling to certainty, transience to infinity, love to indifference and so on. Or to put everything in a simple question: Would you like to understand life or would you rather feel alive?

The human part is embodied by the "Old Man", while the "Spirit" embodies the overall awareness. Both characters desire what they do not have. The Album states that having both humanity and overall awareness is not possible for anyone of the characters. However, the "Spirit" offers to trade her awareness for the "Old Man´s" life.

When Christopher and I decided to create the album we knew that we want to take the idea of a "concept album" really seriously. It is not only that the lyrics tell a continuous story but you will also find musical connections between passages spread over the whole album. There are many melodic lines that appear intentionally at certain passages in different keys, tempi, time signatures and so on. The songs sound as if they describe the scenes. "The struggle" sounds like a conflict between the two parties. "All a Man can do" composes the strength and pride but at the same time the limitations and imperfections of mankind. Overall the music and the lyrics merge and create one story. We feel that "The Old Man & The Spirit" really gives consideration to our ideal of a "concept album".

In fact, one of the very first things that came to our mind were the two characters together with the basic content of the story. We wrote a brief abstract and divided the whole thing into successive statements. Basically before the notes were written, we knew what each song had to sound and feel like and what the lyrics had to say. With these restrictions we started the song writing process. At the end writing songs under some restrictions turns out to be just great. Although one might think that restrictions delimit creativity, it was actually the opposite in our case.

Now lets look at the basic idea behind each song step by step. The details can be found within the words. I will not go into the musical details as well as I leave it to the listeners to interpret the meaning of the music underlying the words and the scenes of each song.

But from all this, please do not forget that the album is more about the music than about the lyrics and the story. Although it can be very exciting and challenging to dig deep into the journey of the Old Man but it is also fair enough to enjoy the music only, without the story behind it.

And another thing, please do not forget that we are just some normal people having fun together and drinking beer. If you are not convinced, check out some of our advent calendar videos on our Youtube channel ; )

01. The Call

The whole surrounding sea?

For being part it will receive

A higher cause to be."

The drop within the sea can not perceive the whole surrounding sea. But it could transform into steam and fly over the sea. However, it has to change its physical shape in order to do that.

05. World of Wonders

Btb – To put it simple. This is a love song. It describes one of the Old Man's most valuable memories.

11. All a Man Can Do

Btb – Here we deal with the salvation of the Old Man. It is in principle a Homage to humanity with all its pride, strenght and weakness.

Btb – In September/October of 2011 we contacted Frontiers Records with the Master Cd. But we only had the music. There were no band pictures, no artwork, no booklet, just the music. Overall we had about 3 weeks to do all the remaining things. We found the artwork online. It is done by a Hungarian artist called Sarolta Bán. We liked it from the very beginning. To us it is more about the feelings and thoughts that the picture evokes together with the music than about a given interpretation. It makes it much more exciting when everyone has to find his/her own interpretation. But this, however, can be a huge playground for people who like to interpret it as the artwork goes well with the content of the album.

We fell that it is important for the album to be a complete piece of art. The artwork plays a huge role since it is the first thing that strikes you. We realize on the reactions of many people and also on the reactions of some reviewers that a good artwork is worth the money and efforts.

Any last words you want to round this interview off with?