Metallica

Thrash metal giants Metallica have reigned supreme in that loud, fast and breakaway genre of music for years but it's only now that they finally bring their gargantuan repertoire to Hong Kong. AsiaWorld-Expo on January 20, to be exact. Expect a mosh pit the size of, well, AsiaWorld-Expo.

Requiring little introduction, Metallica formed in 1981 when heavy metal was starting to bringi n mainstream fans and they swiftly went on to become one of the biggest acts in the world. Alongside Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, the now four-piece was a founding titan of thrash. One of their most renowned songs, Master of Puppets, hit the Billboard Top 40 in 1986 and their first eponymous album in 1991 zoomed to the top spot.

Metallica have assembled eight Grammy awards, 10 studio albums and consistent headline slots on the world's biggest stages since their inception (including, perhaps most famously, the 1991 Monsters of Rock show in Moscow alongside AC/DC and Pantera as the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse).

The lineup is currently backboned by founding members James Hetfield (one of the great vocal trapezists of the last century - flipping from gravelly throat gargles to operating counter-tenor) and Danish drumming luminary Lars Ulrich. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett executes the near-impossible solos that scream through the band's songs while bassist Robert Trujillo slaps scorching riffs as he horsewhips himself with waist-length hair.

Glimpsing Metallica's live show in our SAR is a once-in-a-lifetime affair. The tickets sold out within a matter of weeks but that means screaming hordes of you are looking forward to catching this world-famous metal act in blistering action. Having released their 10th album, Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, not two months ago on their new label, Blackened Records, the deities of the rock world should bring the house down in Hong Kong, So go on. Seek and destry. Jules O'Brien