After much wait, the line-up for the six-legged inaugural Sonisphere festival, which will tour The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Finland and the UK, has been unveiled. Appropriately, let's elaborate on the latter leg, and confirm that the British edition of this new high-voltage fest, apparently instigated in response to the already established, if redundant Download festival, will take place on the first weekend of August (1st-2nd) at Knebworth House, Knebworth. Performances will spread across two main stages, with headliners Linkin Park on the Saturday and Metallica on the Sunday. Other heavyweights include Heaven and Hell and Fear Factory on the Saturday, as well as Nine Inch Nails, Machine Head and Killing Joke on the Sunday, who will all perform on Main Stage 1, while Bullet For My Valentine, Anthrax (both on August 1st), Alice In Chains and Feeder (on August 2nd) will play Main Stage 2, among other acts. A third stage, The Bohemia stage, will leave room for more low-key sets by the likes of new guitar heroes Attack!Attack!, Dead by April and Rolo Tomassi.

Tickets are on sale now, with day passes costing £67.50, weekend passes, £132.50 (without camping) or £157.50 (with camping), as well as coach (£208-220) and VIP packages.

Solange Moffi