With five studio albums under their belt and a solid worldwide fan base they are sure to be a firm crowd favourite at this year’s festival. Having enlisted the help of Don Gilmore (Linkin Park) on their latest opus entitled, ‘Shallow Life,’ they are set to cement their reputation as one of the premier melodic metal bands. The album has marked the band’s highest Billboard chart entry, as well as the highest Billboard debut in the history of Century Media Records in the USA by hitting the US Billboard Top 200 charts at #16. “Shallow Life” also went straight into the official album charts in Italy, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Greece and here in the UK. Says front woman CRISTINA SCABBIA of their exclusive festival performance:
“ Oh my! I am DEFINITELY looking forward to playing Sonisphere!! This year's bill is so out of control it's completely insane! I am SO excited to be playing on the main stage in such very good company! I can already assure you guys that our show is going to be 100% pure energy (but you knew that already, so no surprises there!) I can't wait to see Rammstein's show and meet our good friends in Anthrax again. It's gonna be a blast... you can't miss it and YOU KNOW IT!”
Irish-noiseniks THERAPY? will be making history at Knebworth this year by playing their classic album “Troublegum” in its entirety to commemorate their 20-year anniversary, at their only UK show of 2010. Undoubtedly the most commercially successful album in the band’s career so far, the album sold in excess of ¾ Million albums, reaching number 5 in the UK Charts and featuring no less than five top 40 singles.
Having just completed the recording of their first official live album - captured at three shows at Londons Water Rats on March 29th, 30th, and 31st - set for release this summer, fans will have a chance to see the real deal at Knebworth, as the chart topping three-piece work their way through classics such as “Screamager”, “Nowhere”, “Trigger Inside” and “Die Laughing” at this exclusive performance. Says frontman Andy Cairns:
"We're all really excited to be playing such a large UK rock festival; and to be celebrating 20 years of Therapy? by playing Troublegum, in full, to so many people!"
J-Rock superstars DIR EN GREY bring their creative and visionary metal force field to KNEBWORTH this year, at their only UK performance of 2010. Having last year completed a mammoth world tour taking in Asia, Europe, South America, and North America, the band are gearing up to release a live DVD taken from the last of these shows at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan Hall entitled “UROBOROS -with the proof in the name of living…” out May 2010. This performance earned them a rare KKKKK full marks rating in Kerrang! Magazine’s live review of the show, and if that's anything to go by, fans at SONISPHERE are in for a truly awesome live spectacle.
Guitarist KAORU says of the upcoming exclusive UK festival performance: “I'd never have thought that we would play a festival of this calibre! It is like a dream come true to be playing with such great bands at Sonisphere. Although we're not back in the UK for a tour, we wanted to play this festival to give something back to the fans who were disappointed last year from our cancelled finale in London. We were really bummed ourselves to not play and are looking forward to playing a great show for all our fans. We'll also think up something special for this show as a way to show them our appreciation for waiting for us to come back. As at any festival, we are excited about playing for people who have never seen us before, and I hope they will be able to enjoy our show with our unique stage performance. It’ll be something they've never seen before! It will be absolutely rewarding for us if they simply enjoy our performance.”
A year shy of their memorable headline set at last year’s Bloodstock festival, Sweden’s biggest hard rock band EUROPE will join the SONISPHERE cast, hot on the heel’s of their critically acclaimed studio album “Last Look At Eden” which features the singles “New Love In Town” and the title track.
“After a successful gig at Bloodstock Festival in 2009”, says lead singer JOEY TEMPEST, “we’re absolutely thrilled to be able to play Sonisphere UK 2010. Everyone in the band Europe grew up listening to British rock and to be able to play such a great festival as Sonisphere is really something else. "UK....is the cradle of rock" We're just going to have crank it up to "12" and play our Scandinavian buttocks off. Can't wait!"
If the rave reviews earned from their headline set at the BOA event are anything to go by, their set promises to be one of the festival highlights, as the band perform songs from their new album including “The Beast”, “No Stone Unturned” and “Gonna Get Ready”, as well as classics including “Rock The Night”, “Superstitious”, “Scream of Anger”, and of course, “The Final Countdown”.
Sheffield rockers TERRORVISION will also be making their only UK appearance of 2010 at this year’s SONISPHERE. With three Top 40 albums and twelve Top 40 singles in their CV, TERRORVISION were one of the forerunners of the 90’s Britrock explosion. The Bradford four-piece were impossible to ignore, with heavy radio play and Top Of The Pops appearances spreading the Terror-mania during the duration of the last decade of last millennium. Recently regrouping, and with a new album planned for 2011, what happens next is yet to be seen, but for now festival goers can take delight as TONY WRIGHT and company deliver hits such as “My House”, “Oblivion”, “Alice What’s The Matter?” and “Tequila” at KNEBWORTH this summer. States Bassplayer LEIGH MARKLEW:
“It’s awesome to be introducing our new drummer and first new material in almost 10 years at such a cool festival as Sonisphere!! Legendary venue, gargantuan line up - we anticipate a momentous weekend of Rock n Roll!!”
New York legends and original kings of the circle pit SICK OF IT ALL will bring an aggression injection to the SONISPHERE ranks with their infectiously catchy hardcore. The band’s real life dogma and hunger for excellence as a hardcore band have truly been ideals that fans from all corners of the globe passionately admire and identify with.
Originally formed by brothers Lou and Pete Koller in the mid-'80s, SOIA set the tone of their music and ideology by offering a no-frills view of the world around them. Often revolving around politics, social injustices and life on the streets in New York, the band wear their views on their sleeve and make no apologies, often times attempting to turn the tables to include a thread of positivity, a hope for change and improvement. And they totally destroy live. Drummer Armand Majidi says:
"We're psyched to announce that Sick of it All has been added to the Sonisphere line up for July 31st! It'll be great to play for all of our loyal UK fans at one of the most high profile events that hit British shores. We'll be playing quite a few new songs from our new release 'Based On A True Story' as well as all the classics. We'll be bringing the core, so come down and bring the mosh!!"
Party-Thrash metallers MUNICIPAL WASTE from Richmond, Virginia are another welcome addition to the SONISPHERE line-up this year promising a high octane, debauched show at this exclusive festival performance. Fast, furious and funny, each of MUNICIPAL WASTE’s super-short songs is a memorable anthem to post-apocalyptic mutants, beer; thrash music.... or, indeed, all of the above. The bands dedication to their art is deadly serious, yet they are not afraid to bring the fun back into hardcore - expect beer bongs, body boards and bedlam. Vocalist TONY FORESTA says:
“We’re not playing a lot of stuff this summer in the UK and Europe but we had to make it there for this fest. Maiden, Slayer, Iggy! This looks to be a hell of a time. I heard we are getting a special time slot that will be made especially for the late night ragers. I'm not sure what this means but we will definitely bring some carnage back to England.”
Huddersfield Thrashers EVILE join this year’s SONISPHERE KNEBWORTH line up, bringing with them a whirlwind of breakneck Metal. Founded by old school friends Matt Drake and Ben Carter and signing to Earache Records in 2006, the band have gone from strength to strength with Kerrang! Awarding them the nonour of "Carrying the genre's whole 'revival' on their shoulders". After the tragic passing of bassplayer MIKE ALEXANDER while on tour in Sweden in October 2009, the band made the tough decision to soldier on after holding two memorial nights for their fallen comrade. Currently on tour in the USA after their 200,000 plus downloads of the track Thrasher on popular game RockBand, the band checked in to tell us:
“Evile are blown away at being confirmed to play Sonisphere 2010....there are loads of bands we want to watch ourselves that we are massive fans of, so to be playing with our peers....and IRON MAIDEN...what can we say.....It
doesn't get better than this!”
Bright, Brit-metal hopefuls RISE TO REMAIN are returning to Sonisphere this year after a buzzworthy debut. Since then they have accumulated tours with Trivium, Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall and The Haunted under their belts and are suitably primed and ready for more festival action. Vocalist AUSTIN DICKINSON says:
“We're incredibly happy to have been invited back to play Sonisphere this year! Last year was a major turning point for the band, the response was fantastic and we can't wait to come back and have some more fun!”
After spending September to October 2009 in the studio with Justin Hill and Dan Weller of WellerHill productions, the band have emerged with their debut release showcasing their multi-textured sound, a mini-album due to be released in 2010.
Lastly, it is with great pleasure that we announce the debut festival performance by RENEGADES, a band more recognisable by nature than by name, so we won't reveal too much about them here - their songs say all you'll need to know about them.
Tagged in Sonisphere