seven steps to the green door

SEVEN STEPS TO THE GREEN DOOR

progressive crossover music

When a band carries off the coveted German Rock and Pop Award in two categories with its very first album, it is worth listening more closely. With their fresh mix of styles, their polyphonic vocal arrangements for up to four voices and their gripping combination of complex rhythms with great melodies, the seven-piece band around Marek Arnold (Toxic Smile, UPF and many more) and Ulf Reinhardt already showed on The Puzzle (2006) their feeling for „progressiveness“ in the literal sense.

Only two years later came the second album, Step In 2 My World. Released on the American label ProgRock Records, it pushed the band’s mixture of styles to its limit – from rock to country, rap, metal and jazz. The band’s range widened enormously, and this illustrious outfit from the Erzgebirge now drew international attention. Numerous concerts in and around Germany followed.

In 2011 the band moved to the German label Progressive Records and released, with the concept album The?Book, their most uncompromising and most elaborate work to date. Together with countless international guests and a storybook written specially for the band, it deals in an unconventional way with religion and self-discovery. Fans and press alike received it with enthusiasm.

A little later an interactive game with e-book and music for iOS even appeared.

The fourth album, Fetish, is the band’s most successful so far. Released in 2015 and recorded with numerous well-known guests such as Arno Menses (Subsignal), Dan Mash (UPF, Maschine) and Steve Unruh (Resistor, Samurai of Prog), it shows the full breadth of modern, melodic prog rock: dense vocal arrangements, polyrhythmic and virtuoso instrumental passages, and the hooklines that have become the band’s trademark. This brought the band considerable international attention and took them, with the tour that followed in 2016/17, to almost all the major prog rock festivals in Europe (NotP, Crescendo, Summer’s End, ArtRockFestival).

2019 saw the second part of the Book trilogy, THE?LIE. Here too, numerous guests from all over the world could be won, among them Peter Jones (Camel, Tiger Moth Tales), Luke Machin (The Tangent, Maschine) and Steve Unruh.

In 2022, after the enforced break of the pandemic, the band was able to re-form and present the album live at the „2days prog + 1“ festival in Veruno.

With „The?Truth“, ssttgd closed the trilogy in 2024, realising a compelling conclusion to this extraordinary project together with the American lyricist George Andrade.

After fourteen years of work, the „THE?BOOK“ trilogy was thus brought to an impressive close in 2024.

Seven Steps To The Green Door made their mark on the music scene at the German Rock and Pop Awards (2006), the largest and most prestigious band competition in Germany. When a debut album wins first prize in two categories (Progressive and Experimental Rock) it is definitely a band to keep a close eye on. The seven-member band was formed around keyboardist & saxophonist Marek Arnold, who is best known as the frontman for Toxic Smile as well as his work with Flaming Row, United Progressive Fraternity, Stern Combo Meissen and other prominent bands; and drummer Ulf Reinhardt, formerly with Prophets of Prunes. The combined talents of these exceptional artists accounts for this unexpectedly successful first album, The Puzzle (2006) which comprised a wide-variety of style by mixing art-rock, progressive metal, jazz, rap, and pop. With the moderate use of cross-genre stylistic devices, a unique cast of three vocalists, and the courage to blend melody with rhythmic experiments, “Seven Steps To The Green Door” have amplified progressiveness in Progressive Rock.

With the release of Step In 2 My World, (2008) the band pushed their sound to extreme measures: poly-rhythmic meets melodious vocal harmonies, crazy jazz phrases followed by soft ballads, raps breaking through soft melodies – without ever losing sight of the golden thread that meshed the songs together. Additionally, various guests add highlights with classical instruments and vocals, including none other than Larry B., lead singer for “Toxic Smile”. Step In 2 My World will delight fans of varied rock music who will discover something new each time they listen to this complex album.

Progressive concept album, THE?BOOK, (2011) is the band’s most uncompromising creation so far. The album features, apart from the core band and other musical companions of Marek Arnold – a variety of great guest musicians such as multiple award winning vocal ensemble “Siaella”, Larry B. and Flaming Row frontman, Martin Schnella, who has also worked with: Yes, Spock’s Beard and Shadow Gallery. Schnella joined Seven Steps To The Green Door for live gigs in 2012. Also, a remarkable point about THE?BOOK, it was one of the first ever progressive rock albums to be converted into an interactive game for iOS–devices (iphone/ipad), programmed by „Glanzkinder“.

4th album “FETISH” was released 2015 /09 / 11 – and still can be ordered at www.ppr-shop.de. It`s mainly written by Marek Arnold and Ulf Reinhardt again, and the first album, which was arranged already with new guitar player Martin Schnella, who was also contributing bass guitar and great backing vocals and took care of final mix. Released at our label „Progressive Promotion Records“ again it featured some amazing guests like Arno Menses ( voc, Subsignal ), Dan Mash ( bass, UPF, Maschine, Ex-Tangent), Justo Suarez ( perc) and Steve Unruh ( UPF, Resistor ) and many others…

After the great success of that album, ssttgd was on FETISH tour until 2017. We already played amazing gigs at festivals like “Night of the Prog” (DE), “Crescendo” (FR), „Artrockfestival“ (DE) or “Summers End” (UK) and other venues in Europe.

2019: “THE?LIE”

With “THE?LIE”, ssttgd are once again proving that they are among the most innovative and creative bands in the genre – and in George Andrade, the band was able to convince and win over a lyricist for the concept, who developed a compelling lyricbook, with stirring and disturbing lyrics, out of Thoralf Koss’ story.
To match the intriguing storyline, some outstanding members of the progrock scene were ensembled to take on the roles of the characters and to perform the instrumental parts: British multi-instrumentalist and singer Pete Jones (Tiger Moth Tales, Camel, Francis Dunnery Band) delivers stunning vocals as the “Father”; gifted guitarist Luke Machin (including Maschine, The Tangent, Francis Dunnery Band, Damanek …) played and arranged most guitar parts; Steve Unruh (Resistor, UPF, Samurai of Prog) and Jason Melidonie (Cytotoxin) added brilliant violin and guitar solos. That’s just to name but a few.

The album, produced by Marek Arnold and mixed/mastered by Martin Schnella (Flaming Row, Melanie Mau & Martin Schnella, ssttgd), will be released by Progressive Promotion Records on April 30, 2019.

George Andrade explains: ” “THE?LIE” is a new rock opera/concept album that I’ve co-written with the magnificent Seven Steps to the Green Door, the second album of a proposed trilogy**.

It tells the story of a family intimately caught up in the fanatic actions of their religious leaders, their church “fathers”, and the unfolding tragedy that befalls them all, while having to reconcile their faith turned religion with the repercussions of those fanatic actions committed in their God’s name, and coming to terms with the divergent and symbiotic relationship of a faith’s moral authority with the political realities of administrating and growing any organized religion…

I think “THE?LIE” contains some of my best and most ambitious writing for music to date (I hope you’ll agree), and combined with the stellar performances of the musicians and vocalist assembled for this record, I’m confident you’ll be entertained, thrilled, and ultimately moved by the musical experience…”

2024: THE?TRUTH

Seminal progressive crossover band “seven steps to the green door” from Germany is back with the new album “THE?TRUTH” – the third and final part of their concept trilogy “THE?BOOK”, in which authors and band deal critically with religious fanaticism.

all albums can be ordered at our bandcamp shop.