Dirkschneider & the Old Gang - 'Beyond The End Of Time' (video)

Time - is way beyond the last horizon
Vain - like a moonrise on the sea
Life - you'd better value every hour
Peace - just the way it's meant to be

Gone - and cannot touch a single flower
Dreams - always hidden from the eye
Calm - as you look up night's blue tower
Hope - is a true unfading smile

Alone we stay - years moving on
Alone we pray to carry on
Beyond the end of time

Blessed - I'm gonna taste eternal rivers
Trust - in this land of dark despair
See - how the glowing twilight shivers
Graced - to make that strange
Beyond deem fair

Dazed - by creation's undenied perfection
Feel - like a tender picture drawn
Watch - for a silver and a gold reflection
They - make us view the stars of dawn

Where angels dwell in peace and love
A blessing glare comes from above
Beyond the end of time

Souls - from a tomb's dark empty prison
Free - to kiss away a falling tear
Here - we shall rise as life has risen
And I - I'm gonna journey with no fear
Pain - is a constant void of blackness

Cry - and grieve for those we loved so dear
Long - may be all those nights of sadness
Safe - with a dear friend close and near

The ones we love now rising high
So far above beyond the sky
Beyond the end of time

Dreams - of a not so distant future
Still - so deep within the blossoms burn
Words - unwritten by a final stranger
Joy - in delight of a return

Alone the years - still moving on
And so we pray and carry on

Beyond the end of time
Beyond the end of time
Beyond the end of time
Beyond the end of time
Beyond the end of time
Beyond the end of time
Beyond the end of time

Τρία πρώην μέλη των Accept, ο Udo Dirkschneider, ο Peter Baltes και ο Stefan Kaufmann ένωσαν τις δυνάμεις τους. Η μπάντα ονομάσθηκε Dirkschneider & the Old Gang (για συντομία DATOG). Ως προς το μουσικό τους ύφος; Με το παρελθόν (και το παρόν) των μελών της μπάντας δεν νομίζω ότι χρειάζονται ιδιαίτερες αναλύσεις.

Αυτό που φαντάζεστε (και περιμένετε), Acceptικό heavy metal. Μας παρουσιάστηκαν το 2021 με δύο singles ("Where the Angels Fly", "Face of a Stranger") και ισάριθμα EPs ("Every Heart Is Burning", "Arising") όλα το 2021.

Εν έτει 2025 επέστρεψαν δισκογραφικά με singles (αρχικά) και τον πρώτο τους "ολοκληρωμένο" δίσκο, ο οποίος τιτλοφορείται "Babylon" και κυκλοφόρησε προ μηνός....

Δελτίο τύπου: «What a story! Over the past few years, a charity campaign featuring six prominent musicians for the benefit of artists affected by the coronavirus lockdown has developed into a spectacular project that will undoubtedly cause a sensation.

We are talking about Dirkschneider And The Old Gang, DATOG for short, with a line-up whose majority has had a decisive influence on the history of heavy metal over the past four decades: Udo Dirkschneider was the founder and long-time singer of Accept and, after leaving the band, also led his follow-up bands, U.D.O. and Dirkschneider, to international fame.

In DATOG he is joined by Peter Baltes (bass, vocals; Accept), Stefan Kaufmann (guitar; Accept, U.D.O.) and Mathias Dieth (guitar; Sinner, U.D.O.) as well as Udo's son Sven Dirkschneider (drums; U.D.O., Dirkschneider), who has played for his dad for the last ten years.

The sixth member of the gang is singer Manuela Bibert, who has not been let off the hook since her great performance on the recording of the U.D.O. orchestra album “We Are One” in the spring of 2019.

In this constellation, three DATOG singles, (“Where The Angels Fly”, “Face Of A Stranger” & “Every Heart Is Burning”), were created between summer 2020 and fall 2021, including video clips that are well worth watching, this got the train rolling: “The whole thing developed a momentum of its own, that we hadn't expected in this form", Kaufmann looks back somewhat surprised!

“After the singles incredibly went viral, fans, record companies and concert agencies immediately got in touch and wanted to know whether there was more to come, in other words, what the prospects were for a full album? In fact, we very quickly had more songs in reserve that fit the band's concept and that's how the album that everyone wanted actually came about.”

DATOG will release their debut album “Babylon” on October 3rd, 2025, via 'Reigning Phoenix Music'. Starting in April 2025, a new single will be presented on the 6th of every month for an entire year (!), accompanied by a performance video. So you don't have to be a prophet to predict that this plan will be a successful ride through all the various metal instances.

Especially as the stylistic DATOG concept mentioned by Kaufmann is based on three singers - Dirkschneider, Bibert, Baltes - and therefore contains different vocal profiles that proves to be the band's unique selling point.

“Of course, we didn't even try to split the vocals equally, but carefully analyzed whose voice would fit best for each part”, explains Udo Dirkschneider, who, as an experienced team player, knows that the music alone should dictate the respective arrangement. The same applies to the songwriting, which was also not about cultivating supposed vanities, but followed the motto exclusively: The best songs win!

A wise decision, as the twelve songs on “Babylon” show! Because within a clearly defined basic stylistic direction and alongside magnificent solo performances, especially from exceptional guitarist Mathias “Don” Dieth, the album is particularly characterized by great complexity and an enormous wealth of facets.

This ranges from the first pre-release single “It Takes Two To Tango” (April 6th, 2025) with its driving guitar riff and the uptempo number “Time To Listen”, which follows on May 6th, 2025, to the final single on March 6th, 2026 with the shuffle-fueled “The Law Of A Madman”.

In between, there is “Hellbreaker” (June 6th, 2025), a hard-hitting metal pamphlet, the ballad “Strangers In Paradise” (July 6th, 2025) and “Babylon” (September 6th, 2025), a worthy title track. Almost exactly halfway through the monthly single releases, the full album and the song “Metal Sons”, a tribute to true, original heavy metal, will be released on October 3rd, 2025.

Finally, we come to the summary of the DATOG story, which, as already mentioned, was initially only intended for a specific purpose, but has now become an impressive spectacle: with “Babylon”, where the German all-star band presents twelve brilliant metal songs which, despite their unusual vocal concept, never degenerate into a Babylonian confusion of voices.

Quite the opposite: the album inspires both compositionally and vocally and convinces every sound fetishist with its transparent yet powerful production.»

Παρακολουθούμε το μουσικό βίντεο του τραγουδιού "Beyond The End Of Time", για το οποίο το Γερμανικό συγκρότημα μας λέει:

«Beyond The End Of Time' would also fit into an era in which people still sang about princesses. The monotonous yet harmonious band accompaniment creates space for the emotional vocals of Udo, Peter and Manuela. Although almost eight minutes long, the piece remains captivating, constantly sets new accents and can even put the listener into a trance-like state.»

Band: Dirkschneider & The Old Gang (DATOG)
Country of origin: Germany
Formed in: 2020
Genre: Heavy Metal
Years active: 2020-present

Video: "Beyond The End Of Time"
Video produced by: RCN TV, Nürnberg, Germany
Album: "Babylon"
Type: Full length
Release date: October 3rd, 2025
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music

Track listing:
01. It Takes Two To Tango
02. Babylon
03. Hellbreaker
04. Time To Listen
05. Strangers In Paradise
06. Dead Man's Hand
07. The Law Of A Madman
08. Metal Sons
09. Propaganda
10. Blindfold
11. Batter The Power
12. Beyond The End Of Time

Band members:
Udo Dirkschneider - Main Vocals
Peter Baltes - Bass, Main Vocals, Backing Vocals
Manuela "Ella" Bibert - Main Vocals, Backing Vocals, Key Instruments
Stefan Kaufmann - Guitars, Backing Vocals
Mathias "Don" Dieth - Guitars, Backing Vocals
Sven Dirkschneider - Drums, Backing Vocals