Forget 2020; Meshuggah Scrap 2021 Touring Plans to Finish Next Album

With 2020 already way beyond a lost cause as far as touring is concerned, Meshuggah have taken the proactive step of saying “fuck it” to 2021 as well.

Citing scheduling conflicts between finishing their next album and festival dates that have been rescheduled from 2020 to 2021, the band posted a message to social media explaining their decision to punt:

“As previously communicated our intent was to keep our commitment to all festivals and shows planned for summer 2020, that couldn’t take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic, by re-confirming them for the same dates in summer 2021. Full Force Festival [in Germany] is one of these festivals that has already been re-confirmed and re-announced. However, after seeing some of the other festivals move to completely different weekends in 2021, we eventually found it impossible to go ahead with the tour next summer due to logistical reasons. Which also means that Meshuggah have to cancel their planned appearance at Full Force 2021.

“Another influential part of the decision to not tour in summer 2021 is that Covid-19 restrictions have also affected Meshuggah’s progress with a new studio album, to a point where we now see the need to keep summer 2021 clear to put finishing touches to the album.

“Meshuggah and their management would like to apologize to all fans and promoters being affected by this.

“Some good news is to be found in here though: there is a new Meshuggah album coming…

Indeed, that is good news, even if it’s quite a ways into the future! It’s hard to fault Meshuggah here, and fans bummed about the cancellations certainly can’t claim Meshuggah didn’t give them plenty of notice. What’s more, we still don’t know to what extent Covid-19 could continue to affect live music events well into 2021… so, all around, this seems like the right move. Those festivals will still welcome Meshuggah with open arms and big paychecks in 2022, I’m positive.

It’s worth noting that Meshuggah only specified “summer 2021” in their statement, meaning they could still have plans to tour that spring (or autumn). I don’t know how likely that is given the aforementioned new album concerns and the pandemic, but their statement leaves open the possibility.

[via The PRP]