ARTmania Festival proudly presents the first headliner for 2013: Within Temptation, one of the most popular rock bands in the world/ Europe. Famous for its extravagant shows, a sublime blend of elegance with melodrama and powerful metal compositions, the Dutch group will go on stage Friday the 9th of August in Sibiu.
Formed in 1996 by guitarist Robert Westerholt and the staggering soprano Sharon den Adel instantly distinguished itself as the most charismatic symphonic gothic metal bands of the last decade of music history. What really brought to light the gems of Netherlands was ”Mother Earth” (2000), their second album, that attracted more commercial visibility and registered 2.8 Million sold CDs & DVDs released in 48 countries, 30 Gold and Platinum awards, 2 MTV European Music Awards, 2 World Music Awards and many more, foreshadowing a successful evolution.
The intense touring completed by passionate studio works and the following two discs, ”The Silent Force” (2004) and ”The Heart Of Everything” (2007), increased the crowd of followers worldwide, setting new standards for symphonic rock and metal.
The release of “Black Symphony” DVD set, feauturing the band”s most ambitious live show to date,turned Within Temptation into a legendary figure on the international symphonic metal scene,. Black Symphony was a unique concert filmed at Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena on February 7, 2008, where Within Temptation performed in front of an audience of 10,000 people along the 60-piece Metropole Orchestra, the Pa’dam classical choir and their special guests Keith Caputo (Life of Agony), Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering), and George Oosthoek (Orphanage). The magnificence of the show was enhaced by the presence of stilt performers, the gorgeus costumes, and intensified by the astonishing lighting and pyrotechnic effects.
The latest album of Within Temptation ”The Unforgiving” marks a radical change in terms of musical direction and imagery, bringing a new perspective to the band’s unique world, full of diversity and versatility. Based on their multi-layered musical background, this fifth full-length album proves the band`s pleasure of exploring with sound, resulting in a fascinating material gliding from the darker gothic metal themes to a more radio friendly pop influence, shifting to a less symphonic approach.
The new visual orientation stands out not only from the graphics of the album cover, but also from the comic book and the three videos of the songs “Faster”, “Shot In The Dark” and “Sinéad” that add an extra of drama and dynamics to the disc.
”And it turns out there is a reason why The Unforgiving comes off as sounding cinematic: the group issued a series of short films (and even a comic book), in which the tunes from the album provide the soundtrack. A concept album that doesn’t get weighed down by the story line is a rarity, but it is something that Within Temptation succeed at with The Unforgiving.”-www.allmusic.com
“We didn’t want to make a traditional concept album where you just make up a story and write lyrics to tell the tale. What we’ve always done in the past when we read a book or saw a movie is that it inspires us to write a lyric or a song, and that’s how we wanted to approach this. We have 12 tracks and they’re soundtracks to the story,” explains Westerholt.
In November 2012, Within Temptation made another fabulous live apparition in a spectacular one-off show called “Elements”, accompanied by the Il Novecentro Orchestra and several great artists, specially invited to join them on stage and celebrate the band’s 15 year anniversary. Prepare to be surprised by the amazing performance of Within Temptation and charmed by Sharon`s angelic voice, Friday 9th of August, in the Large Square of Sibiu.
Along eight 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. In 2013, ARTmania Festival takes place between 5th and 11th of August and is co-financed by the local Council of Sibiu through the Town Hall and the Cultural House of Sibiu Municipality.
Tickets for The ARTmania Festival Sibiu 2013 are now available and can be purchased worldwide on shop.artmania.ro or in Eventim network and myticket.ro for the Romanian public only, 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 festival week.
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