“Ride the Lightning” with musical icons Metallica and over 20 other rocking acts in an all new Guitar Hero experience - Guitar Hero Metallica. Enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience the intensity and skill of one of the greatest bands of all time. Shred on guitar, rip on drums and wail on the mic to a set list featuring over 45 explosive hits from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters and Queen. Fans will be able to rock as Metallica while performing in venues reminiscent of the band’s epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales.

Fans, stagehands and groupies alike will have the opportunity to shred and drum with or wail as the digital King Diamond during performances of “Evil.” The song, which originally was recorded in 1983 and is one of the Mercyful Fate songs that comprise Metallica’s “Mercyful Fate” medley, was re-recorded by four of the five original band members for Guitar Hero Metallica. The recording session was overseen by guitarist Hank Shermann in the band’s native Denmark; after which King Diamond laid down his vocals in Dallas, Texas, and mixed the song with J.T. Longoria.

This year’s European Sonisphere Festivals, which are headlined by Metallica, and will be taking place in Holland, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Finland, before finishing off the season with a two day festival in the UK. At the six festivals and a host of Metallica’s European gigs, fans itching to get a taste of Guitar Hero® Metallica® will have the opportunity to hone their skills and shred, drum and wail on a demo of the band’s highly-anticipated game before the European release in May 2009.

“Guitar Hero Metallica offers fans a unique opportunity to live out their dreams of stardom playing as one of the greatest bands of all time to a set list of over 45 explosive rock and metal tracks,” says Siân Evans, European marketing manager, RedOctane. “To be able to play as Metallica and experience their intensity and musical skill in a video game and then watch them perform live, will be an awesomely, unique event for any music fan.”

Fans attending Metallica’s European tour dates will have the chance to win exclusive tickets to the Sonisphere Festivals and get their hands on signed Guitar Hero Metallica merchandise. Each tour date will also include Guitar Hero Metallica pre-show events where fans will have the opportunity to rock on specially made Guitar Hero® stages. At some of the concert venues, there will also be a variety of free limited-edition Guitar Hero Metallica prizes up for grabs, as well as after-parties featuring live DJs, on-stage guitar duel challenges for prizes and celebrity face-offs. A lucky handful of skilled players and performers will be able to win the chance to play the game on the Sonisphere Festival main stage in front of tens of thousands of fans and two fans from each country will win the ultimate prize, a chance to meet Metallica.

2009 Sonisphere Festival dates are as follows:

20/06/2009 Nijmegen, Holland
04/07/2009 HockenheimRing, Germany
11/07/2009 Barcelona, Spain
18/07/2009 Hultsfred, Sweden
25/07/2009 Pori, Finland
01/08/2009 – 02/08/2009 Knebworth, UK

For full details, tickets and line up, please visit www.sonispherefestival.com. For more details on the festivals, contact debbie@kililive.com (0207 399 7070).

2009 EU Metallica sold out tour dates are as follows:

03/26/2009 Glasgow, GBR SECC Arena SOLD OUT
03/28/2009 London, GBR O2 Arena SOLD OUT
03/30/2009 Rotterdam, NLD Ahoy SOLD OUT
04/01/2009 Paris, FRA Palais Omnisport de Bercy SOLD OUT
04/02/2009 Paris, FRA Palais Omnisport de Bercy SOLD OUT
05/06/2009 Munich, DEU Olympiahalle SOLD OUT
05/07/2009 Leipzig, DEU Leipzig Arena SOLD OUT
05/09/2009 Stuttgart, DEU Schleyerhalle SOLD OUT
05/11/2009 Frankfurt, DEU Festhalle SOLD OUT
05/12/2009 Hamburg, DEU Colorline Arena SOLD OUT
05/14/2009 Vienna, AUT Stadthalle SOLD OUT
05/16/2009 Oberhausen, DEU Kopi-Arena SOLD OUT
05/17/2009 Cologne, DEU Lanxess Arena SOLD OUT
06/14/2009 Helsinki, FIN Hartwall Arena SOLD OUT
06/15/2009 Helsinki, FIN Hartwall Arena SOLD OUT
06/17/2009 Oslo, NOR Spektrum SOLD OUT
06/22/2009 Milan, ITA Datch Forum SOLD OUT
06/24/2009 Rome, ITA Palalottomatica SOLD OUT
07/07/2009 Nimes, FRA Festival de Nimes SOLD OUT
07/13/2009 Madrid, ESP Palacio de Deportes SOLD OUT
07/14/2009 Madrid, ESP Palacio de Deportes SOLD OUT
07/16/2009 Zurich, CHE Hallenstadion SOLD OUT
07/20/2009 Copenhagen, DNK Copenhagen Forum SOLD OUT
07/22/2009 Copenhagen, DNK Copenhagen Forum SOLD OUT
07/23/2009 Copenhagen, DNK Copenhagen Forum SOLD OUT
07/27/2009 Copenhagen, DNK Copenhagen Forum SOLD OUT
07/28/2009 Copenhagen, DNK Copenhagen Forum SOLD OUT
07/30/2009 Oslo, NOR Spektrum SOLD OUT

Key Features :

• Becoming the Band: For the first time ever, Guitar Hero Metallica will allow fans to come together and thrash as the explosive, world-renown metal and rock band, Metallica, whose album sales have exceeded 100 million worldwide. Transform into metal legends Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo as full body scans and signature moves motion capture allow players to virtually experience the high intensity of a Metallica performance.
• Live Like Metal Legends: Follow the path of the metal legends in either single instrument or band career game modes playing as the band to a soundtrack of their greatest hits while also rocking with over 20 additional artists selected by the band. Featuring in-the-round stage designs and custom camera angles new to Guitar Hero, further highlighted by custom lightshows, special effects and encores, gamers and Metallica fans alike can fulfill their rock ‘n’ roll fantasies in a variety of new and famous settings, ranging from Tushino Airfield to The Forum. All venues reflect Metallica’s most memorable tours including themes from their album artwork to offer the authentic Metallica atmosphere.
• Drum Like Lars: In addition to using the redesigned, more responsive and advanced Guitar Hero World Tour guitar controller and microphone, Metallica fans will truly be able to pound like Lars on the drums with a second bass pedal compatible with the Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit controller. The all-new “Expert+” difficulty level gives gamers access to the double bass drum note track which offers the authentic Metallica experience with a note-for-note translation of many tracks appearing in-game and adds a new difficulty option to all gameplay modes.
• Seek and Destroy: Immerse yourself in themed Battle Mode attacks, such as briefly blacking out your fellow rocker’s note track or modifying the amp overload to include the signature Metallica lightening.
• Test Your Metal: After nailing a song, test your Metallica know-how by replaying the song with trivia pop-ups. The on-screen displays give information about the song being played, and with guest artist songs, information about how the band is tied to Metallica will be displayed along with details such as band history and lyrics.
• Off to Never Never Land: Guitar Hero Metallica is loaded with tons of bonuses throughout the game, such as unlockable venues, commentary, videos and behind the scenes footage, giving all Metallica fans exclusive content to enjoy.
• All that Remains: Guitar Hero Metallica cranks all the great features, gameplay and fun of Guitar Hero World Tour to a new level with updates to the Music Studio featuring samples from James Hetfield’s ESP Truckster guitar and of Slayer fame, Tom Araya’s signature ESP bass guitar, GHTunesSM, and the Rock Star Creator. Online game modes allow competing gamers to see who tops the charts in Face-Off, Pro Face-Off, eight-player “Battle of the Bands” and Battle Mode as well as the online Quickplay mode that allows up to four gamers to shred together regardless of physical location.

Metallica Tracks

1. All Nightmare Long
2. Battery
3. Creeping Death
4. Disposable Heroes
5. Dyers Eve
6. Enter Sandman
7. Fade To Black
8. Fight Fire With Fire
9. For Whom The Bell Tolls
10. Frantic
11. Fuel
12. Hit The Lights
13. King Nothing
14. Master of Puppets
15. Mercyful Fate (Medley)
16. No Leaf Clover
17. Nothing Else Matters
18. One
19. Orion
20. Sad But True
21. Seek And Destroy
22. The Memory Remains
23. The Shortest Straw
24. The Thing That Should Not Be
25. The Unforgiven
26. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
27. Wherever I May Roam
28. Whiplash

If you downloaded the "Death Magnetic" album for Xbox and PS3, those ten songs will play in their entirety in the full game mode. PS2 and Wii versions (coming in the Spring, most likely in early May) will include "Broken Beat & Scarred," "Cyanide" and "My Apocalypse" since they are not compatible with the Death Magnetic downloadable content.

Other Artists

1. Alice In Chains - No Excuses
2. Bob Seger - Turn The Page
3. Corrosion of Conformity - Albatross
4. Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
5. Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors
6. Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather
7. Kyuss - Demon Cleaner
8. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesdays Gone
9. Machine Head - Beautiful Mourning
10. Mastodon - Blood And Thunder
11. Mercyful Fate - Evil
12. Michael Schenker Group - Armed and Ready
13. Motorhead - Ace of Spades
14. Queen - Stone Cold Crazy
15. Samhain - Mother of Mercy
16. Slayer - War Ensemble
17. Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster
18. Suicidal Tendencies - War Inside My Head
19. System of a Down - Toxicity
20. The Sword - Black River
21. Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town

*tracklist subject to change*

Guitar Hero: Metallica will be out March 29 in North America for X360 and PS3, outside of North America early May. Wii and PS2 editions will follow later in Spring 2009.