METALLICA has been confirmed as one of the headliners of this year's Rock Werchter festival, set to take place July 2-5 in the Belgian town of Werchter (with METALLICA performing on July 5). Also scheduled to appear are COLDPLAY, PLACEBO and THE KILLERS. Tickets cost 169 euros for a four-day pass, or 75 euros per day, and go on sale on February 14.

For more information, visit www.rockwerchter.be.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich recently told RollingStone.com that the band's massive world tour behind "Death Magnetic" could very well last beyond this year. "We're booked up through August of [2009], and right now we're sort of laying out fall of '09 and the spring of '10," he said. "We're waiting for a few other countries to be actually formalized as nations so we can be the first band in. We're also waiting for the polar caps to stabilize so we can go play there. There's talk about some other planets too."

Regarding the band's first American arena tour in four years, Lars said, "It's great to be back indoors. We're right in the thick of it in the middle of the arena. It completely exposes every nuance and that adds a real tone of vitality and excitement."

(Thanks: Tonnie Westerbeke / www.metalfan.nl)