The Roskilde Festival beefed up its line-up today in a major way with the surprise announcement that metal legends Metallica will grace the Orange Stage.
The band will play the 2013 Roskilde Festival as their only show in Europe this summer. It will be Metallica's first appearance at the festival since 2003, and their fourth overall.
Behind the kit for the band will of course be Danish-born Lars Ulrich, who started the legendary band in 1981 with singer James Hetfield. Guitarist Kirk Hammett joined the fold just two short years later, while bassist Robert Trujillo joined Metallica in 2003.
The band's first Roskilde appearance was in 1986, the same year they released the seminal Master of Puppets, an album that was recorded in Copenhagen with Danish producer Flemming Rasmussen.
Metallica is considered one of the pioneers of trash metal and is one of the genre's 'Big Four', along with Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Their most recent album, 2008's Death Magnetic was hailed by many as a return to the band's early sound.
The Roskilde Festival's warm-up begins on June 29, with the main festival running July 4-7. Organisers have said that the final band schedule will be released soon.