For my fellow metalheads, there is some glorious news: This summer, The Metal Masters Tour hits cities in the United States beginning on August 6 at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ.

And check out this lineup: Metal gods Judas Priest headlining with the Ronnie James Dio-fronted Black Sabbath (performing under the Heaven and Hell moniker), the legendary Motorhead, and Bay Area thrashers Testament in support.

Check out the current listing of tour dates here below.

Judas Priest will be touring in support of their upcoming studio effort Nostradamus, a double-disc concept album due for release in the U.S. on June 17, 2008 (June 16 for UK/Europe).

Here’s a bit about the album from the press release:

The current incarnation of Judas Priest is original members singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, and bassist Ian Hill, along with long-time drummer Scott Travis. Long live the Priest! (I just had to say that.)

And speaking of original lineups: On April 29, 2008, Testament will release The Formation of Damnation, which sees the first new recording with almost all of the original members since 1992’s The Ritual (the only non-original player is former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, who happens to kick ass, so rest assured). For those of you who dug the band back in the late 1980s, you should know that guitarist wiz Alex Skolnick is back with the band and will be on this album, playing in the Metal Masters Tour.

According to Blabbermouth, Testament will donate a portion of the proceeds to Greenpeace from pre-order sales for the new album, which can be pre-ordered at the Testament Official Site Merch section.

Can I tell you how fucking happy I am? Two new mega-metal albums, and an unbelievable skull-crushing tour — IN MY GLORY. Plus, I got presale tickets yesterday for one of the dates near me (plan on going to one more show on the tour as well).

Tour Dates

The Metal Masters Tour – August 2008

6th Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
7th Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA Soon
9th PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
10th Nikon at Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY
13th Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON
16th Post Gazette Pavilion, Pittsburgh, PA
18th DTE Energy Music Theatre, Detroit, MI
19th First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL
22nd Superpages.com Amphitheatre, Dallas, TX
23rd Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston, TX
24th Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, San Antonio, TX
27th Journal Pavilion, Albuquerque, NM
28th Cricket Wireless Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ
30th Glen Helen Pavilion, San Bernardino, CA
31st Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA

Links

For more info, check out these links:

Judas Priest
Testament Legions
Motorhead