Progressive German rock/metal band Beyond The Bridge have been working on 'The Old Man And The Spirit' since 2008 up until it's completion and they are finally ready to release it in January 2012....'The Chinese Democracy' syndrome lives on even in progressive metal...

Some moody keyboards licks usher things in before eventually rolling out into a flowing heavier guitar led composition via opening number 'The Call'.  This is an epic sounding progressive ditty with a typical of sorts European vocal approach.  There are also time changes galore as expected on this type of particular opus, but these all fuse comfortably directly into one another driving us onwards into track two 'The Apparition'. This track has much of the same song structure in a Dream Theater kind of way with some nice vocals from Dilenya Mar assisting the male lead vocal of Herbie Langhans.  There's great musicianship within Beyond The Bridge it must be said, and never more so on the 80's inspired melodic rock of 'Triumph Of Irreallity' throwing me back to the days when Twelfth Night, Pallas and all those like-sounding fellas were seen as the next big thing here in the UK in the wake of Marillion's initial success. And so to the shortest tune on offer clocking in at under two minutes 'The Spring Of It All' is a pleasure to the ears just because it's straight to the point, all gentle vocal and piano that has me drifting off into a Styx like world of wonder.

The softened mood continues directly into 'The World Of Wonders' a track that slowly evolves into a melodic rocker with more adept vocals from Dilenya Mar and some fine melodic fretwork courtesy of bandleader Peter Degenfeld.  The album concept (which deals with the polarity of human sensuousness and superhuman awareness) slowly unravels itself through the segue 'The Primal Demand' and then before we know it we plough headlong into the speed metal intro of 'Doorway to Salvation' a track that jumbles metal guitar and some back and forth dueling vocals from Mar and Langhans, all laid out amidst a visionary 8 minute band performance.

Up next 'The Struggle' mixes an almost male rap vocal arrangement with harmonic female vocal that may have you thinking Evanescence meets Disturbed but you can forget any ideas of commerciality here Uber Rockers as this quickly turns into a jazz rock jam session more akin to the likes of Pat Metheny. The sound of faux pan pipes introduces the listener to 'The Difference Is Human' though as with most tracks here this quickly develops into epic sounding progressive metal, think part Maiden part modern day Opeth this track comes complete with a sweet sounding acoustic verse crammed full of catchy progressive hooks. A beautiful piano intro beckons you in on 'Where The Earth And Sky Meet' with some cool interaction between singer and keyboard that develops into a Styx like (mentioning these guys twice in a review surely must be a first for Uber Rock) ballad, before the longest tune on 'The Old Man And The Spirit' lasting close to 10 minutes in length ends the musical procession. 'All A Man Can Do' despite its mammoth running time still holds the listener close and finishes the album on a high.

Put simply 'The Old Man And The Spirit' is the sound of modern prog rock at its finest!

http://www.beyondthebridge.net/

To order your copy of 'The Old Man & The Spirit' via Amazon.co.uk - 'Click Here'