Metallica Headline Soundwave 2013

After months of intense rumours, confirmations, alleged minor leaks and a hell of a lot of denials, the first line up announcement for the 2013 Soundwave bill is here, with Metallica in the headlining slot.

The bill is as follows:

Metallica, Linkin Park, Blink-182, A Perfect Circle, The Offspring, Paramore, Garbage, Tomahawk, Stone Sour, Kyuss Lives, Anthrax, Sum 41, Dragonforce, All Time Low, Duff McKagan's Loaded, Fozzy, Flogging Molly, Ghost, Kingdom Of Sorrow, Sleeping With Sirens, Madball, Vision of Disorder, Cancer Bats, Pierce The Veil, Periphery, Shai Hulud, Miss May I, Woe Is Me, Lucero, Six Feet Under, Danko Jones, The Wonder Years, While She Sleeps, Such Cold, Deaf Havana, Red Fang, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, Memphis May Fire.

Listen to it here:

METALLICA

What do you want us to say? Nine massive studio albums over the past 31 years (no including Lulu, which we'll leave alone for the moment), Metallica are awfully close to holding the title of the biggest band in the world. Their appearance at Soundwave is so enormous that the festival could sell thousands of tickets without announcing anyone else. They are the biggest of the Big Four, their thrash metal roots crossing over into something far more grandiose over the years,

BLINK 182

Yeah, no shit.

LINKIN PARK

Headliners of the Livid Festival before it went the way of the dodo a decade ago, Linkin Park return to Australia on a festival for the first time since then. The band's popularity has suffered none in that time, quite the opposite, in fact, they're now a legitimate arena rock band and one of the few nu-metal bands to actually be more popular now in the live arena than ever. This year they released Living Things, so they were due to return to their eager Aussie fans to promote it and their inclusion on the bill has been tipped by many.

A PERFECT CIRCLE

It has been a long time between drinks for this alternative metal supergroup; their last record was in 2004 and live shows are few and far between. That just makes it more exciting then to have them back in Australia for a run of dates as a part of Soundwave. The band is currently made up of Maynard James Keenan, James Iha, Josh Freese, Billy Howerdel and Matt McJurkins and they will have a lot of people very excited about next year's festival.

THE OFFSPRING

They're nothing if not enduring, The Offspring. The Cali punks hit the mainstream with their classic Smash album of 1994 and followed it up with a string of hits over the ensuing years; Ixnay On The Hombre gave us more mainstream leaning rock before Americana took the band in a more pop direction. The band's ninth record Days Go By has just dropped and it's about time they came back to Australia; Soundwave seems as good a place for them to be as any.

GARBAGE

The band that gave Shirley Manson the chance to shine as the star she is formed back in 1994, but have been a little more quiet than usual in the past decade, taking a couple of hiatuses in that time. Garbage made a big return this year with the release of their first new album in seven years, Not Your Kind Of People, and they've been on a massive world tour ever since. It finally hits our part of the world early next year, giving some people their first ever chance to see the band and many of us the first chance in a long time.

PARAMORE

One of the most loved bands on the planet by certain people of a certain age and certainly very much enjoyed by a number of people outside of the youth market, Paramore have been no strangers to Australia over the past couple of years and are ready to once more greet their massive fan base down here and provide them with the high energy, emotional and very fun live show that they are so adept at providing.

ANTHRAX

When they last visited for Soundwave a couple of years back, Anthrax proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were still a ferocious live band who deserved their spot amongst the top echelon of thrash metal bands from throughout history. With their old mates Metallica on the bill, they'll be looking to push even harder than before to make sure Aussie thrash fans know they're not to be forgotten. A must see.

TOMAHAWK

Another of the many Mike Patton led supergroups, this one featuring The Jesus Lizard's Duane Denison, Helmet/Battles' John Stanier and Mr Bungle's Trevor Dunn, and one which we haven't seen in Australia in a very long time. Tomahawk have said that they are going to release an album, their first in five years, this year and by the looks of things they are wasting no time in making sure we know all about it, with a Soundwave commitment just a couple of months after Patton's visit with Mondo Cane for the Harvest festival.

KYUSS LIVES

Kyuss were the best stoner rock band that ever existed; you won't find too many people arguing that fact with much success. The seemingly impossible happened in 2010 when the band got back together in a form without Josh Homme, calling themselves Kyuss Lives, and touring the world to great acclaim. Nick Oliveri is now no longer a part of that group either, but there's no doubt the band will still slam out the classics with gusto at Soundwave 2013.

DRAGONFORCE

They're a little bit silly, kind of funny, but completely fucking mindblowing! If you've ever heard a Dragonforce song then you would know that this is a band who pride themselves on being able to play their instruments with the kind of aptitude that would probably get you beaten up at school, and all the fantasy references probably wouldn't help either. They're having the last laugh though, they've become insanely popular and their live show, which is theatrical, jaw-dropping and basically a shitload of fun, has them performing in front of thousands every night. Here's hoping they make it this time!

FLOGGING MOLLY

Dave King must feel like some sort of father-figure on this year's line-up as the frontman of Los Angeles-based Celtic punk veterans Flogging Molly. A fantastic set of songs with an even better live show – do yourself a favour and learn your Irish fucking history kids.

THE LAWRENCE ARMS

These Chicagoan punks are one of the most celebrated bands to be picked up by the Fat Wreck label in recent years; their tasteful brand of solid punk rock earning them plenty of support over the years with five great records to their name thus far. They haven't put an album out for around six years now, so one would hope they are planning on something soon, but for now we're just happy to have The Lawrence Arms back on Australian soil.

MADBALL

One of the truest hardcore bands around right now, Madball have been keeping things real and representing New York hardcore for almost a quarter of a decade. Led by Freddy Cricien, the band has featured a huge number of artists from bands like Agnostic Front (which his brother fronts), Cro-Mags, Throwdown and GWAR over the years, but Freddy has always been out the front, dominating the stage. The band have a new EP out now, but you can bet you'll hear plenty of classics when they hits Soundwave 2013.

VISION OF DISORDER

These '90s hardcore legends recently confirmed that they would be releasing their fifth album late this year after reforming a couple of years back, but an Australian tour is just about more than any fan could dream of. Vision Of Disorder were one of the first bands to blend metal, hardcore and southern rock styles – though it is their more straight-ahead material that has won the hearts of their fans over their storied career. A surprising addition, but a welcome one.

CANCER BATS

These Canadians have made a habit of delivering furious live shows and when they said they couldn't make it to Australia for their scheduled headline tour, we weren't too happy to hear it. But, as promised, Cancer Bats are on the 2013 Soundwave bill and they'll likely win over plenty more fans thanks to it; their rollicking rock'n'roll tinged hardcore sounds mighty fine on all four of their records, including this year's Dead Set On Living, and we can't wait to hear it live.

OF MICE & MEN

After leaving Attack Attack! in 2009, Austin Carlile wasted no time in getting straight back on the horse and forming Of Mice & Men. It has only been around three years since the band formed, but they've proven to be a pretty massive hit with metalcore fans around the world and a trip to Australia is well and truly welcomed by many young fans of the genre.

LUCERO

Honestly, they stick out on this bill like a sore thumb. But that's pretty standard for Lucero. This band play a country influenced brand of bar room rock'n'roll, it's pretty classic Americana and the incredible songwriting and vocals of frontman Ben Nichols really manages to paint one hell of a vivid picture with whatever subject he tackles. This is a man, and a band, who feel like they live their music and while they are far from the kind of punk rock you'll see on other parts of this bill, they have the passion and the guts in their music to more than make up for it.

THE WONDER YEARS

Although hardly a new band, The Wonder Years feel like they've exploded in the last couple of years, with the Philadelphia pop punk outfit racking up some mean frequent flyer points to and from Australia (they've played with everyone from Heroes For Hire to Parkway Drive). Yes, their name comes from the TV show.

PIERCE THE VEIL

Since 2006, Pierce The Veil have delivered us some of the most mind-bendingly experimental post-hardcore and prog rock we've heard, wrapped in a somewhat pop inclined format that makes it just so very appealing. They have three records to their name, the latest being the recently released Collide With The Sky which we're sure you'll hear plenty from at Soundwave 2013.

What's even more exciting is that they're going to take one lucky theMusic.com.au reader out for lunch and a game of pool, if you want to have a chance at winning that, head here.

Tickets for Soundwave are on sale from 9am Thursday 23 August, through OzTix and outlets.