Love-metallers HIM are flying in from Finland to make their Knebworth debut at Sonisphere this summer with an exclusive one-off festival performance.

"We, the merry men of HIM, will bring our socially dysfunctional selves to Sonisphere UK. We are like a bad tasting, but nutritious grandma biscuit you can dip into your inner worlds. It'll be fun and possibly out of control," claims bass player Mige. "You'll see. There will be smoke, lights and psychedelia. Sweat and zealotry. Men will cry. It's going to be a FUCKING EMOTIONADO!"

Not content with already performing on the Apollo stage on the Saturday, thrash legends Anthrax are taking advantage of a day off on the Friday to give those in Bohemia a special treat. The band will stomp their way through their classic Among The Living album in full, in a sweaty, heaving tent. Think "Among The Living", "Caught In A Mosh", "I Am The Law", "NFL", "Indians" - the list goes on, the hits don't stop .

"We love to play these songs and people love to hear them so we're really fucking excited to be doing this special show the day before our main-stage performance at Sonisphere Knebworth playing (for the first time ever) just the Among The Living record for you, our UK faithful!" says guitarist Scott Ian.

Other new additions to the bill are led by modern hardcore heroes Comeback Kid, with Andrew Neufeld eager to check out The Prodigy, saying: "Last time I had the opportunity to see the Prodigy was at a festival in Serbia but I missed them because I had to spend the night in jail."

New Wave Of British Heavy Metal pioneers Sweet Savage join the line-up at the request of Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich, while October File plan to blend punk, hardcore and industrial metal and then lace it with a political edge. Expect ferocity.

Eureka Machines make their Sonisphere debut describing themselves as: "Imagine if the Beatles and the Beach Boys met Motorhead, jammed with the Cardiacs and created the best band you've never heard. Until now."

 Then there's garage punkers, The Bots, big-riffing Welsh quartet, Straight Lines, London rockers Zico Chain, Black Dogs, who our bookers say are about to take the UK metal scene by force, infectious power poppers, Love Zombies and Stormzone, who'll be flying the flag for traditional metal. Rounding out the latest announcement are Math rockers Shrine, New Zealand's Rival State, who specialise in catchy music with a hard edge, hard rockers, The Wild Lies and melodic metal from The Raven Age and Empire Kill.