Not only does the lineup for the 14th edition of the Graspop Metal Meeting offer tons of variation, quite a few bands will be making their Graspop debut this year! Yet another reason not to miss the metal festival of the year!

Rumours had been flying for some time and now it’s official: MÖTLEY CRÜE is coming to Dessel on Friday 26 June in the original lineup to present their new album ‘Saints from Los Angeles’! Hailed by many critics as the album of the year, the new disc is a collection of swinging and pounding glam/hardrock songs with prominent drums (courtesy of Tommy Lee), bluesy guitars and clean vocals. A mouth-watering prospect for thousands of music lovers!

Also, the boys are bringing their own CRUE FEST lineup: HEAVEN AND HELL and PAPA ROACH had already been announced and then there’s BUCKCHERRY and two other bands that are yet to be confirmed.

SLIPKNOT, the formidable Iowa metal machine, has been slotted as our headliner for Saturday 27 June. GMM2005 was the last time the boys donned their overalls and masks in Dessel. This year’s headlining appearance comes hot on the heels of a highly successful and sold-out European tour in promotion of their excellent new release ‘All Hope Is Gone’. Moreover, this summer marks the band’s tenth anniversary! Watch out for a great party with lots of old and new hits.

We proudly present yet another killer act with ‘Antichrist Superstar’ MARILYN MANSON. With ‘The High End of Low’, the American shock rocker has just released a worthy successor to his 2007 studio effort ‘Eat Me, Drink Me’. Marilyn will personally direct the video for the first single ‘I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies’, so you can just guess what the clip will look like! Marilyn Manson will wrap up this year’s festivities on Sunday 28 June.

We received a large number of e-mails begging us to bring DREAM THEATER to the Graspop Metal Meeting and what do you know… we did it! It’ll be Dream Theater’s first concert on Belgian soil since the release of their last album ‘Systematic Chaos’. They are also hard at work on a new studio album scheduled for a summer release. Who knows, they may even premiere a couple of new tracks at GMM! Dream Theater will be playing on Friday 26 June.

On Saturday 27 June, American metalcore heroes KILLSWITCH ENGAGE are stopping off at the biggest metalfest of the year. Be sure to check out this class act! Right now they are still working on their as yet untitled fourth album, which should be released this summer (say around 26 June). This is also the first time the band has decided to work with an outside producer and the guy doing the honours is none other than Brandon O’Brien, known from his work for leading bands such as AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots.

Extreme music lovers will be pleased to read the following three names: GOJIRA, EXODUS and PESTILENCE. Starting out as a thrash band, Pestilence became the standard bearer of the Dutch death metal scene in the early nineties!

The following names have also been added to the bill: DOWN, HATEBREED, THE GATHERING, LACUNA COIL, MASTODON, BLACK STONE CHERRY, JON OLIVA’S PAIN and AUGUST BURNS RED.