ARTmania presents the first two bands confirmed at the 8th edition of the festival that is going to take place in Sibiu, in between 5th and 11th of August 2013. ARTmania Festival 2013 is proud to host the concert of Orphaned Land, the first metal act to enrich the line-up with the traditional touch of the Middle East and Amaranthe, the newest Sweden’s modern melodical metal sensation. The concerts will take place in the Large Square of Sibiu, during the weekend of the 9th and 10th of August.

Orphaned Land is considered to be one of the most influential metal bands in the Middle East. With over 20 years of activity and an eclectic musical style blending elements of progressive metal with oriental traditional passages, the band proposes ”a musical journey of hope in lands of war, creating heaven on earth”, as vocalist Kobi Farhi said. Founded in 1991 under the original name Resurrection, Orphaned Land rapidly caught the attention at an international level, through a unique mature metal sound mixed with exotic instrumentation, praised with each of the 3 EPs and 4 studio albums released along their career.

Their fourth album, entitled “The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR”, is an epic manifest that took over 5 years of great work and plenty of hours spent in the studio cooperating with The Arabic Orchestra of Nazareth. The result is a complex and sophisticated disc produced alongside the well-skilled Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Opeth), who played keyboards and mixed the album. “The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR”, alternates profound arrangements with accessible melodies and captivating riffs. Its original exotic touch is given by the presence of various instruments specific to the Middle East, such as saz, santur, arabian flutes, middle-eastern percussions, cumbus, bouzouki, violins and different kinds of guitars, and the usage of multilingual vocals singing in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Yemenite.
The band was given the Peace And Friendship Award by Turkey and in October 2012, a petition was submitted to the Norwegian Nobel committee to consider Orphaned Land for the 2013 Nobel Prize. We are proud to welcome these great musicians in Sibiu, at ARTmania Festival 2013, on the 10th of August.

The music of Amaranthe fuses the most cutting edge of melodic metal with catchy choruses and the fascinating performance of its singer Elize Ryd, making the band remarkable for its spectacular shows, but also for their studio recordings. ”Leave Everything Behind” is the band`s first demo, released in 2009. With members originating from Sweden and Denmark, Amaranthe rapidly conquered Northern Europe. In 2011, after the release of their homonymous debut album, they`ve embarked on an European tour along Kamelot and achieved worldwide fame, being also invited to play several times in Japan.

”Amaranthe”, their first LP, turned them into the most played rock band on the Swedish rock radio and brought along over a hundred shows, some of which exceeded a public over 10, 000 people, both in their hometown and at the world’s biggest rock festival, Wacken Open Air. In September 2012, Amaranthe entered the studios in Ribe Denmark to work once again with the famous producer Jacob Hansen at the recordings of a new discographic material, that is going to be released early this year. Guitarist Olof Mörck is promising a brilliant work with a futuristic and ultra modern theme and atmosphere that will lift the band to a bigger successful level.

2013 brings another extended spring tour around Europe, the participation to important festivals like Sweden Rock Festival and Getaway Rock Festival, just before hitting the stage in the Large Square of Sibiu on Friday 9th of August.

Along 8 years, ARTmania Festival brought together artists from all over the world, promoting the intercultural exchange in one of the most beautiful medieval citadels in Eastern Europe: Sibiu. With the support of its faithful partners and allies, ARTmania cultural platform was able to offer art amateurs a varied cultural program of concerts, exhibitions, workshops and other events dedicated to the fine arts. ARTmania Festival 2013 is an event co-financed by the local Council of Sibiu through the Town Hall and the Cultural House of Sibiu Municipality.

Tickets and full passes for the ARTmania Festival Sibiu 2013 are now available and can be purchased worldwide on shop.artmania.ro and for the Romanian public in Eventim network and myticket.ro, for 80 lei/full pass, and for 70 lei/day pass until the end of February, reaching 150 lei/full pass and 100 lei/day pass in the days of the festival. Follow www.artmaniafestival.ro andwww.facebook.com/ARTmania.Festival to keep yourself updated.