Wardruna, Haken, TesseracT, Port Noir, and Vulture Industries, added to lineup in 2023

Wardruna at ARTmania Festival 2023 after a sold-out tour in Europe
Haken, TesseracT, Port Noir and Vulture Industries added to lineup

Wardruna, Haken, TesseracT, Port Noir and Vulture Industries will perform next year at the 16th ARTmania Festival, which will take place in Sibiu from 28 to 30 July.
The Norwegian neo-dark folk band Wardruna, who had a sold-out tour in Europe this year, will take the stage four years after their first show at ARTmania, when they presented their album “Skald” (2018).
Next year, the musicians will also bring their latest compositions included on their fifth album, “Kvitravn”, released in early 2021.
“For me, this album represents a natural continuation and development of everything we have done so far. Through experience, reflection and hungry curiosity, we potentially continue to grow as humans, scholars and musicians and with this constant movement, our ability to dive deeper into our work also grows. More clearly than before, does this album and its songs address us as humans in our own time. And even though the songs convey ways and words originating from a distant past, they are still just as much ways and words for «now»,” says Einar Selvik, the band’s frontman, about the latest record for which both traditional and very old instruments were used.
Einar Selvik started Wardruna in the early 2000s with Lindy-Fay Hella. The group made their recording debut in 2009 with ‘gap var Ginnunga’, the first album in the “Runaljod” trilogy, which is under the sign of 24 runes. The second album in the trilogy, “Yggdrasil”, was recorded with some of the oldest traditional Nordic instruments. The last album of the trilogy, entitled “Ragnarok”, was released towards the end of 2016, and two years later, “Skald” was released. In addition to the distinctive musical style translated into live performances, Wardruna is also known for the soundtrack of “Vikings” series.
British progressive rock band Haken will return to ARTmania Festival five years after their first appearance on the festival stage.
Formed in 2007 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Henshall, guitarist Matthew Marshall and lead singer Ross Jennings, Haken made their recording debut three years later with “Aquarius”. The band’s lineup has changed over the years, consisting now of Ross Jennings (vocals), Richard Henshall (guitar and keyboards), Raymond Hearne (drums), Charles Griffiths (guitar), Peter Jones (keyboards) and Conner Green (bass).
The band is currently gearing up for the release of their seventh album, “Fauna”, in 2023, which features the single “Nightingale”, released this year.
TesseracT (UK), Port Noir (Sweden) and Vulture Industries (Norway) will perform for the first time next year at ARTmania Festival.
The foundations of English progressive metal band TesseracT were laid in 2003, and for the first four years it was the solo project of guitarist Alec “Acle” Kahney. Today, the group also includes Daniel Tompkins (vocals), James Monteith (rhythm guitar), Amos Williams (bass) and Jay Postones (drums, percussion).
TesseracT, considered a pioneer of the djent style, has released four studio albums so far, “One”, “Altered State”, “Polaris” and “Sonder”, and two live albums, “Odyssey/ Scala” (2015) and “Portals” (2021). Their most recent recording release is “Regrowth”, an EP released this year.
Swedish group Port Noir, a mix of old school rock, progressive, hip hop and R&B, debuted in 2011 as a project of Love Andersson (bass, vocals), Andreas Wiberg (drums) and Andreas Hollstrand (guitar, keyboards and backing vocals).
Port Noir quickly attracted the interest of the music community with its distinctive sound, also inspired by artists such as Queens of the Stone Age, Daft Punk, Rage Against the Machine and The Weeknd. The band made their recording debut in 2013 with “Puls”, which was followed by “Any Way the Wind Carries” (2016), “The New Routine” (2019) and “Cuts” (2022). During this time, they have continued their rise, going on to tour with bands such as In Flames, Pain of Salvation and Karnivool.
Vulture Industries, a Norwegian avant-garde progressive metal band, formed in 2004 with members of the goth rock band Dead Rose Garden at its core.
Its first album was released in 2007, the critically acclaimed “Dystopia Journals”, followed by the also well-received “The Malefactor’s Bloody Register” and two other studio releases.
In recent years, the band has been part of the lineup of several genre festivals in Europe, and in Sibiu will bring a show recognized for its scenography and theatricality.
Wardruna, TesseracT, Port Noir, Haken and Vulture Industries join Porcupine Tree (UK), Emperor (Norway), SAMAEL (Switzerland) and Pain of Salvation (Sweden) who have been confirmed for next year’s festival. More to be announced soon.
Passes for ARTmania Festival 2023, part of the project ”Musical Bridges Through Cultural Entrepreneurship”, can be purchased on the official website (www.artmaniafestival.ro) and on iabilet.ro for 400 lei/piece + taxes (80€ + taxes).

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„Musical Bridges Through Cultural Entrepreneurship” is financed with the support of EEA Grants within the RO-CULTURE Programme. The project has a non-reimbursable value of 980.230,30 lei (198.102,36 euro) and is carried out over a period of 12 months.
The EEA Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. There are two overall objectives: reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe, and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA Grants amount to €1.55 billion. More details can be found on www.eeagrants.org și www.eeagrants.ro.
RO-CULTURE Programme is implemented in Romania by the Ministry of Culture through the Project Management Unit. The Programme aims at strengthening social and economic development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage management. The total budget amounts to almost 34 million EUR. For more details access www.ro-cultura.ro.

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ARTmania Festival, the first Romanian festival that developed the idea of combining art and entertainment in Romania, is a platform dedicated to promoting all forms of artistic expression inspired by rock culture.
Since 2006, ARTmania has established itself as the main regional promoter of contemporary music projects. Music is the core component, but it is only a part of the experience that ARTmania Festival wanted to offer to art lovers from Romania and abroad. From the very beginning, ARTmania was conceived as a cultural platform to offer the public various events and ways to experience different forms of artistic expression, such as concerts, exhibitions, book launches and film screenings.
As the longest-running rock festival in Romania and one of the brands with the longest tradition on the regional cultural scene, ARTmania has shaped its own identity through a bold concept and a special environment: the Great Square of one of the most beautiful medieval fortresses in Eastern Europe.
ARTmania is constantly exploring new directions, building on the experience of previous editions where many important artists have performed. Among them are 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 and Deine Lakaien.

Musical Bridges Facebook page/ ARTmania Festival Facebook page

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