Metallica have been confirmed as headliners at this year's Reading and Leeds festivals between Friday August 22 and Sunday August 24.
Joining Metallica are Rage Against The Machine - who make their first UK appearance in the UK for eight years - Slipknot, Queens Of The Stone Age, Serj Tankian, Feeder and Pendulum. In addition to their Download 2008 appearances, Bullet For My Valentine and Biffy Clyro have confirmed they'll appear at the three-day festival. More acts will be announced over the coming months.
"Alongside the hallowed turf of Castle Donington there is no place in the UK that is more historic or more of an honour for Metallica to play than at Reading," drummer Lars Ulrich tells Kerrang!. "Back in the day when I was first tripping on music, I'd look at the line-up and see bands like Iron Maiden, UFO and Whitesnake headlining, so for us to be asked to come back yet again and stand at the top of the pile so to speak is an absolutely tremendous gift from the organisers. It's just such an absolutely incredible thing to be a part of.
"I remember playing the festival back in '03 and getting the chance to close down Reading, and that was such a massive feeling to carry around," he adds. "The fact that they've asked us to come back and do the same thing again is absolutely huge in my eyes. We headlined Wembley last year, did Download the year before, and so playing Reading and Leeds just seemed like the obvious thing to do. In my eyes it's still one of the biggest and most monumental music festivals in the world, and with bands like Slipknot and Rage Against The Machine playing I'm sure it's going to be one of the best line-ups that people have seen in quite a while."
Ulrich says fans can expect to hear some new material from their forthcoming ninth studio album.
"We're psyched to play some new songs," he laughs. "In fact, if we don't, then I give people permission to come and find me and slap me across the face! We're certainly planning on rolling out some of the new songs for the first time, but right now our focus is on finishing the record. As soon as that's out of the way, we'll be hitting the rehearsal room and getting to grips with playing these bastards live!"
Slipknot are currently working on their first studio release since 2004's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses).
"Last time we played we were part of history, this time we're gonna make history," says vocalist Corey Taylor. "Get ready to believe again."
Tickets are on sale now. To purchase tickets online, please visit www.aloud.com or call 0870 998 8888.
Sweet track, cool video too.