Transatlantic, the „mothership” of the modern progressive rock, lands at ARTmania 2022
by April 17, 2022For the first time in Romania, Transatlantic, the prog supergroup Beard, voice, guitar, keyboard), Pete Trewavas (Marillion, bass) and Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings, guitar) will perform at the 15th edition of ARTmania Festival, which will take place during 22nd – 24th of July 2022.
The super-group will be in a European tour for promoting their latest work, The Absolute Universe, an album described by its authors as a completely new concept: it is a double-album totaling over 90 minutes, but it also comprises a shorter 60 minutes version which is not only an edited version of the extended one, but also a new music creation in itself.
The album was created in a very short time span of almost 2 weeks, in 2019, when the four musicians met in a studio in Sweden and drafted its content. Then, each of them went to its studio and registered their part.
“What resulted is, in its essence, a gigantic opera split into chapters. The music piece talks about the contemporary man’s day to day struggles. We touch some political topics as well, but this certainly doesn’t mean that we turned our art into something political. The pandemic we are passing through plays, of course, an important role in the story. It is, if you’d like, a fresco of the 2020’s crazy context, while the «shorter» version focuses on the impact of the virus over mankind”, says Portnoy.
Morse, adds that this fifth album of the band has some things in common with The Whirlwind, album-event launched in 2009 by the group, after a hiatus of almost ten years.
„The Absolute Universe is certainly not a continuation of «Whirlwind», though there is a certain spiritual relationship, if you’d like, between the two materials“, adds the drummer.
The Transatlantic super-group was founded by the two great friends of the contemporary prog-rock, Portnoy and Morse. Their musical „brotherhood” was born, beside their collaboration in Transatlantic, due to other highly appreciated music projects as well, like Flying Colors or Neal Morse Band.
Together with Transatlantic, in 2022, during the three-day ARTmania Festival, the following wellb established international names will perform (a-z): My Dying Bride, Testament and The Pineapple Thief. New exciting names will be announced in the close future.
Festival passes for the ARTmania Festival anniversary edition are already available on the official website, www.artmaniafestival.ro, at 290 lei/ pcs. + taxes and authorized sellers: iabilet.ro, eventim.ro and ambilet.ro
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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 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.
