Swedish extreme metal outfit Meshuggah will be cancelling all of their 2020 and 2021 live appearances, due to COVID-19 and for “logistical reasons.” While the band will not be hitting the road within the next year and a half, they will be working on a new studio album.

The band announced that one of the rescheduled performances includes Germany’s Full Force Festival, which was moved to summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This event was reportedly cancelled due to logistical reasons, however the band also explained that the pandemic has been interfering with their recording plans, which has made the refocus their priorities for an upcoming album.

“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,” the band explained. “Meshuggah and their management would like to apologize to all fans and promoters being affected by this.”

Meshuggah first arrived on the heavy metal scene back in 1991, with the release of their debut album Contradictions Collapse. While the band began their careers with some thrash metal influences, they soon brought in some progressive metal elements filled with polymetered song structures and polyrhythms, which have made the group stand out in the metal scene. The group have been signed to Nuclear Blast for nearly the entirety of their career and released their latest studio album, The Violent Sleep, back in 2016.

Read their full statement below:

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 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…