Simon Oberender, keyboardist/guitarist of the German progressive metal band BEYOND THE BRIDGE, passed away late last month. The cause of death has not been announced.

Oberender, who was also the keyboardist for Amanda Somerville's band TRILLIUM, worked at the Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany as a sound engineer and producer. He recorded, mixed, mastered (along with Sascha Paeth) and produced BEYOND THE BRIDGE's debut album, "The Old Man And The Spirit". He also appeared on several other recordings, including AVANTASIA's 2010 releases "The Wicked Symphony" and "Angel Of Babylon", EDGUY's "Age Of The Joker" (2011), EPICA's "Requiem for the Indifferent" (2012), RHAPSODY OF FIRE's "The Frozen Tears Of Angels" (2010) and KAMELOT's "Silverthorn".

As an engineeer, Oberender worked on albums by AVANTASIA, DESTINATION'S CALLING, EDGUY, EPICA, MAYAN and others.

Less than a month ago, Oberender performed with BEYOND THE BRIDGE at ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta, Georgia in what was the band's first-ever appearance in the United States.

In a new post on the BEYOND THE BRIDGE Facebook page, the group writes, "It's been a while since we posted something here, and we hope you understand that this sudden tragedy left us in silence.

"We thank you so much for all your thoughts and condolences in the past days — it really means a lot to us! Thank you all.

"We will be completely honest with you.

"As you might imagine, this loss let us rethink a lot, and of course we were asking ourselves if there was going to be a BEYOND THE BRIDGE without Simon in the future. Besides losing a very good friend that he has been for many years to all of us, we also lost an incredible musician and our trustful advisor — he was at the core of our band.

"Simon truly lived for the music. His abilities as a sound engineer and producer were simply outstanding. And he was such a very good young man.

"Simon put so much time, energy, and all his enthusiasm and abilities into BEYOND THE BRIDGE. He enjoyed so much talking about the future of this band, he organized so many great things, he spent hours on the phone with us and probably days on the road.

"It was not an easy decision for us.

"For all of you who might be wondering about what lies ahead, here is an answer: We will need some time to organize ourselves, but we will continue with BEYOND THE BRIDGE. And if it's only to remember Simon, there will be a second album. A grand album. We will try to make it the best CD you could possibly imagine. Because that's all he deserves.

"Thank you again for all your support.

"We are happy to have such great fans."

BEYOND THE BRIDGE's debut album, "The Old Man And The Spirit", was released in January 2012 via Frontiers Records.

"The Call" audio sample:



"The Apparition" audio sample:



"Doorway To Salvation" audio sample:



For more information, visit www.beyondthebridge.net.