Time for another round of Anthrax. The band be kicking off a co-headlining tour with Testament in mid January. Tickets go on sale this weekend and you can check out the dates below.

1/22 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
1/23 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
1/24 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
1/27 -  Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room (Murat Center)
1/28 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s Entertainment Center
1/29 - Louisville, KY @ Expo Five
1/30 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel 
12/2 - Atlanta, GA @ Tarbernacle
12/3 - Columbus, OH @ Promowest Pavilion
12/6 - Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
12/7 - Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live 
12/8 - New York, NY @ Best Buy Theatre 

We know it’s been a little quiet on the front since The Big 4 tore apart Indio, CA this past spring. Though Anthrax is currently out and about on the other side of the Atlantic, they managed to sneak in a new single on iTunes this week.

5:49 minutes of full-fledged thrash? 30 years later and still going strong. 

Get it while it’s hot!
Anthrax - “Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t” on iTunes

So last month, the entire country spazzed out (and for good reason) about the Big 4’s 1-time-only show in California. Thankfully, it’s developed into an additional affair! To refresh your memory, we’re talking Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica. Yeah. Get ready.

The recently announced show will be held at Yankee Stadium in New York on September 14th. There are pretty few seats left for face value so grab them up before they are gone. Who knows- maybe you’ll see one of us at the event, too! Rock on.

It’s finally happening. The Big Four have announced an appearance in the United States. WOO! In case you aren’t up to speed, this is going to be the most epic show to ever happen in alternative music. We’re talking Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth together at last. I don’t even need to say more. They are playing their own festival on April 23rd at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA. Get your tickets the day they go on sale (January 28th, 10AM PST, Ticketmaster) because they won’t last long. At all.

The Damned Things (you know- the crazy mash up Every Time I Die, Anthrax and Fall Out Boy) have announced their new album Ironiclast will be available on December 14th. Word on the street says it’s amazing and after seeing the band’s second performance ever, there’s no debating that claim over here.

There are a few of the new tracks on the band’s MySpace, but the latest song “Little Darling” can be heard over at AbsolutePunk. Keith comments on the song:

“Little Darling” may have been the most instinctually oriented song on the record as far as the lyric writing was concerned. I remember when Joe and Rob and I sat down to go over possible melodies, the first line was the “example” we gave as to the vocal cadence of the verse. I remember saying “ok, so something that SOUNDS like ‘little darling’” and went to the drawing board. After nothing really felt right, I realized that those two words were perfect from the beginning. It set the tone for the entire rest of the song which is essentially just a letter of apology for being so absent from certain peoples lives.

A second song “Friday Night (Going Down In Flames)” can be downloaded for free via Facebook and for another taste, check out the song “We’ve Got A Situation Here” below (which is available for download on iTunes):

Just for kicks, see how the guys look live! These photos are from The Borderline in London back in June:

I’m sure you metal buffs remember this summer’s post about The Big 4 (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) playing together for the first time throughout Europe. And maybe you remember the post about the one-night-only screening of the concert nationwide.

Basically, a string of posts that made you just wish you could have seen it, yeah? So I bring you a blog of hope!

This Tuesday, November 2nd, The Big 4: Live from Sofia will be available on DVD and Blu-ray. Finally! A chance to see it!

The 2-disc set is 345 minutes long- don’t get your calculator, that’s nearly 6 hours. In addition to the basic release, you can also get a “Super Deluxe” Box Set that not only gets you the footage, but also 5 hours worth of music (the entire live sets), a 24-page booklet, two-sided poster, photo of each band and a Big 4 guitar pick. The box set is limited edition, of course.

Want to see what you can look forward to? Check out Megadeth’s full performance of “Symphony of Destruction” below:

A while ago, I was super stoked to announce that the big four (Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth) were finally playing together this summer…for only 7 days in Europe. Of course it’s crazy to think we can all afford tickets, flights and accommodations to witness history in the making, but fear not. You can experience the whole thing in a theater near you.

“The Big Four Live” is going to be a live, streaming feed from Sonisphere, the festival all 4 bands will be playing together, so you can catch each of the bands’ performances. It will be a one-time-only showing, so I’m suggesting to get your tickets stat

The screening will be June 22 at 7:30pm your local time. Tickets are up right now. Check out the trailer for all of this to make more sense…and melt your face off due to awesomeness:

Super-group The Damned Things have set up shop at MetroSonic Studio in Brooklyn to record the band’s debut album. The studio has given the world some insight to the band’s progress on the highly anticipated fall release. Check out some eye candy and lust over the gear on the studio’s post.

          
                                   Keith Buckley recording vocals

        
                                        A crazy amount of guitars

        
                                               Hey Rob Caggiano!


[see more photos of the guys and the gear]


What else is happening for the band? They have just been signed to Mercury Records, a now imprint of Island Def Jam. Congrats, guys!

Don’t forget, they have their first show booked for June 1st in New York!

Do you recall the seemingly mismatched collab dubbed The Damned Things? Let’s refresh your memory!

A few months ago, before the Fall Out Boy hiatus even, we were introduced to The Damn Things- a project featuring members of Fall Out Boy, Every Time I Die and Anthrax. I know, I know. We all were confused, but word on the street says this band is totally legit…despite the fact that we haven’t heard anything from them. They could be the only band to grace the cover of Rock Sound without having a single track online. I digress…

The big news is The Damned Things have scheduled their first show!

Tickets for this show are bound to go fast. And who knows. We may not even hear anything from them until this performance, so if you go, you could get the first taste. Be sure to let us know if you are going. We need to get the skinny on this show!

If you aren’t in the country, they are doing a few string of shows across Europe afterward:

Jun 4 @ Rock Am RING - Nurburgring (Tickets)
Jun 5 @ Rock Im PARK - Nuremberg (Tickets)
Jun 6 @ VK - Brussels (Tickets)
Jun 8 @ Melkweg - Amsterdam (Tickets)
Jun 10 @ Heaven - London (Tickets)
Jun 12 @ Copenhell - Copenhagen (Tickets)
Jun 13 @ Download Festival - Donnington (Tickets)

Rock!

This is actually the first time in history this has ever happened. Think you can handle this…?

Metallica + Slayer + Megadeth + Anthrax will be on tour together.

They are on the bill for Sonisphere Festival 2010 which as of now is scheduled for 15 dates throughout Europe for June, July and August of next year. I can’t even tell you how much tickets are because the currency varies across the board, but they are all well over $200…assuming you can find any left at face value.

Megadeath’s Dave Mustaine says these shows will be

a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity for heavy metal ‘fans’ to see the four greatest heavy metal ‘bands’ in American history back together on one stage. If there are any heads left at the end of this Festival that haven’t banged, they don’t belong there.

There’s speculation if the four will do a US tour together. Right now signs point to we-haven’t-the-slightest-idea-but-really-want-it-but-it-will-probably-be-too-good-to-be-true. Considering Megadeth and Slayer will be touring together soon and Metallic have toured extensively in 2009, I say it’s a long shot. Here’s to hoping…and thankful I have strong ties in the UK.

Europe, enjoy your envy from the rest of the world.