Meshuggah, iconic presence on the international metal scene, comes to ARTmania Festival 2022
by May 14, 2022Meshuggah, iconic and „genre defining” name for the international metal scene, one of the ten most important hard and heavy metal according to the „Rolling Stone” magazine, joins the ARTmania Festival 2022 line-up, returning to Romania, with an explosive show precisely after ten years since their first concert here.
Meshuggah will perform on the ARTmania Festival stage with (a-z): Cult of Luna, Leprous, Mercyful Fate, My Dying Bride, Pain of Salvation, Transatlantic, Testament, The Pineapple Thief, The Vintage Caravan, along with Bucovina, Dordeduh and Taine.
The 15th edition of ARTmania Festival will take place during 22nd – 24th of July 2022, festival passes being available on artmaniafestival.ro, eventim.ro and iabilet.ro. All passes acquired for ARTmania festival during 2019-2021 remain valid for the event’s 2022 edition without any price change.
Meshuggah (SE), name coming from the “meshuge” – “insane” or “senseless”, started their adventure in 1987 in Umeå, Sweden. The band triggered enthusiasm from its debut EP (1989), which was sold out, and stood out from the crowd due to its complex polyrhythmic compositions, their uncommon sonic stamp and the surprising mix of genres which brings together math rock or tech death elements with free jazz rhythms and with the thrash metal’s harshness.
For Meshuggah, the real international fame was brought by “Destroy, Erase, Improve” (1995) and by “Chaosphere” (1998), albums which gained massive attention and really pushed the band into the popular heavy metal touring circuit. Things progressed more and more until the release of their 2002 album “Nothing” which would go on to sell over 110,000 copies in the United States.
With each new material launched, the band succeeded to continue to surprise the audience. “Catch Thirtythree” (2005), for example, perplexed and delighted many fans and critics as a 47 minute-long “uni-song” that genuinely required patience and attention to detail, while “Koloss” (2012) was reveled and made its way to the top 20 of the Billboard top 200, performance repeated with “The Violent Sleep of Reason” (2016), thus re-demonstrating once again the exclusive talents held only by MESHUGGAH.
If for many other bands the current pandemic not only messed professional plans, but also chased away artists creative power and inspiration, Meshuggah transformed these volatile times into an opportunity for introspection and for creativity, the new free time brought by the postponed shows was used for music.
With over 25 years and 8 full length albums as masters in this realm, the band has been on an endless exploration journey, succeeding to also coin a new term. The band’s progressive music style, now known as “djent”, emerged to solidify their genre defining nature. And from the first album launched, the band welcomed their new drummer, the incredible Tomas Haake, the man that would eventually be dubbed “the best drummer alive” (considered to be in the top best drummers of all times according to the “Rolling Stone” Magazine).
Festival passes for the ARTmania Festival anniversary edition can already be purchased from the official website www.artmaniafestival.ro, eventim.ro and iabilet.ro at 450lei/ pcs. + taxes, within the available stock.
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About ARTmania Festival
ARTmania Festival, the first Romanian festival that has brought on the local market the concept of combining the art with entertainment, is a platform dedicated to promoting all forms of artistic expression inspired by rock culture.
With each edition, ARTmania has consolidated itself as a major regional promoter of contemporary music. However, ARTmania Festival does not simply refer to shows of famous international and local bands. Music is the main component from which everything emerged, but it is only a part of the experience the festival was designed to offer to Romanian and foreign art lovers.
Since the very beginning, ARTmania has been designed as a cultural platform meant to offer the public various events and ways to experience different forms of artistic expression, such as concerts, exhibitions, book launches or film screenings. This common meeting place of artists with the public at the level of sound, colors, images or letters, hosted by the Square and the medieval fortress, creates the space of fairy tale and magic which is essentially comprised in the spirit of the festival.
Being the longest-lasting and largest rock festival in Romania and one of the longest-standing traditions of the regional cultural scene, ARTmania has shaped its own identity through a bold concept and a special ambience: the Large Square of one of the most beautiful fortresses medieval times in Eastern Europe.
ARTmania is constantly exploring new directions, building on the experience of previous editions, when a number of important artists and bands went on stage, international names like: Steven Wilson, Peter Hammill, Serj Tankian, Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Opeth, Die Toten Hosen, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Apocalyptica, HIM, The Gathering, The Sisters of Mercy, Anathema, Apocalyptica, Lacuna Coil, Helloween, Lacrimosa, Poets of the Fall or Deine Lakaien among many others.
