Not content with attracting the largest audience ever at the O2 arena back in September last year, the mighty METALLICA smashed their own record on Saturday night (March 28).

19,017 fans helped the band set a new high at the world's most popular venue. The feat was made all the more extraordinary by being the third METALLICA date at the arena in six months.

The fan-club-only show in September 2008 set a benchmark of 18,000, which stood until Saturday night. It celebrated the release of latest album "Death Magnetic".

METALLICA's 2009 world tour now continues into Europe. The next time U.K. audiences will be able to catch them live is at their headline set at the inaugural Sonisphere festival at Knebworth House, Stevenage, held on August 1-2, 2009.

METALLICA has announced a new release date for its digital "box set" called "The Complete Metallica" that will feature the band's entire 163-track recorded catalog. According to the group's official web site, the package will now be available exclusively through iTunes beginning on April 14, before surfacing at all other digital outlets on April 28.

"The Complete Metallica" will be released during a high-profile period for the Los Angeles-based hard-rock heroes. On March 29, Activision released the highly anticipated video game Guitar Hero: Metallica, featuring 28 songs from the band's nearly 30-year career. In addition, METALLICA will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which honors legendary rock and roll performers, in a ceremony to take place in Cleveland on April 4.

METALLICA recently completed its first proper tour of the United States and Canada in four years in support of the platinum-selling "Death Magnetic", which debuted at No. 1 in September 2008 and won two Grammy Awards for "Best Metal Performance" (for the track "My Apocalypse") and "Best Recording Package."