Metallica just officially announced that they will be headlining the 2012 Orion Music + More Festival. The two-day fest of rocking musical evenings will be held on June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, N.J. Along with Metallica, who will be headlining both nights, bands featured on the eclectic lineup include Arctic Monkeys, Modest Mouse and Avenged Sevenfold.

“We’ve had the idea of doing our own lifestyle festival with lots of diverse music and fun and games for years,” said Lars Ulrich. “Finally this year all the practical ducks lined up in a row, and we are beyond psyched to bring Orion to our fans, friends and the curious.

After the news broke today, Metallica sat down for an exclusive interview about their very own fest. The band will host the festival at Atlantic City’s Bader Field, which once functioned at an airport. “There’s a lot of f— off space,” said Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. “I believe it is an abandoned airport.” Metallica guitarist James Hetfield also spoke about the choice of the spot. “We wanted the biggest space possible because we don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of the day.”

The band was asked if the Orion Festival would be a yearly occurrence. “As far as it being an annual event, we don’t know. It all depends on how it turns out, said guitarist Kirk Hammett.” Hetfield added, “If this is able to keep itself going, so be it. We’ve got the attitude of ‘try it.’”

In what will perhaps what makes this festival legendary is the fact that Metallica will be playing both their ‘Ride the Lightning’ and Black Album records in their entirety. This will be the first time Metallica have played the entire ‘Black Album’ on American soil.

Check out the full list of bands below and details about tickets on the official Orion Music + More website.

Orion Music + More Artist Lineup:

Metallica

Arctic Monkeys

Avenged Sevenfold

Modest Mouse

The Gaslight Anthem

Cage the Elephant

F—ed Up

Best Coast

Hot Snakes

Titus Andronicus

Gary Clark Jr.

Lucero

Roky Erickson

The Black Angels

The Sword

Liturgy

A Place to Bury Strangers

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