Headlining 2009\'s Sonisphere Festival will be Metallica (drums: lars Ulrich) and Linkin Park (drums: Rob Bourdon). Other confirmed acts include Slipknot (drums: Joey Jordison; percussion: M. Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn), Lamb of God (drums: Chris Adler) plus Mastodon (drums: Brann Dailor). More acts are to be confirmed within the next few weeks.

Metallica\'s involvement is part of a multi-million-pound deal that will see them play at the festival for at least three years. The group has been brought on board by their agent, John Jackson, the creator of Sonisphere. Lars Ulrich, the drummer of Metallica, is looking forward to the European fesitval tour:

\"We\'re stoked to be touring Europe with Sonisphere. Summer festivals in Europe are what Metallica do best. We can\'t wait to see all of our fans over there. (...) Now we bring our families with us, it\'s sort of summer vacation and what more would you want to do when you\'re on vacation than to sneak off and play rock shows four times a week? It\'s the perfect thing for us and we\'ve been doing it for so many years that if someone said you can\'t come to Europe this summer and play festivals, then I wouldn\'t know what to do with myself.\"

The drummer also suggested some survival tips for visitors of Sonisphere:

\"Bring the right attitude, bring the right openness, be kind to your neighbour, bring the right sunscreen and please, when you pee in that bottle down front, throw it back and to the side, not up at the band!\"

You can find more information about the festival, including ticket sales, at the festival website.