MEGADETH, BUCKCHERRY, SHADOWS FALL, DREAM THEATER Confirmed For U.K.'s DOWNLOAD Festival

MEGADETH, BUCKCHERRY, SHADOWS FALL, DREAM THEATER and TURBONEGRO have been confirmed for the Download festival, set to take place June 8-10 at Donington Park, Leicestershire, England. The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):

BOWLING FOR SOUP
BRING ME THE HORIZON
BUCKCHERRY
DEVIL DRIVER
DIMMU BORGIR
DRAGONFORCE
DREAM THEATER
ENTER SHIKARI
EVANESCENCE
GALLOWS
IRON MAIDEN (June 10 headliner)
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
KORN
LAMB OF GOD
LINKIN PARK (June 9 headliner)
MACHINE HEAD
MARILYN MANSON
MEGADETH
MÖTLEY CRÜE
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE (June 8 headliner)
SHADOWS FALL
SLAYER
THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS
TURBONEGRO
VELVET REVOLVER
WOLFMOTHER

Demand for this year's festival has seen tickets sell faster than ever before, camping spaces have nearly all gone, and festival organizers are looking into an extension to the Donington Park capacity. Download 2007 is fast becoming the must-attend music event of the year.

As one of the most commercially successful heavy metal bands of all time, MEGADETH has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, including five consecutive platinum albums, with seven consecutive Grammy nominations. MEGADETH's Donington Park debut was in 1988, and 19 years on they make their third appearance. Their thirteenth and most recent album, "The System Has Failed", debuted at number 18 in the Billboard Top 200. It's testament to the bands commitment and passion for music that to this day they are still considered as important and influential as the day they started.

MEGADETH's mainman Dave Mustaine said, "The last time that Slash and I played on this stage on the same day was 1988 at Castle Donington, back when it was called Monsters of Rock. So, besides Download being one of the most prestigious festivals in heavy metal history to play on, I'm looking forward to seeing if Slash will join me to play something like 'Night Train' or 'Mr. Brownstone' for old time's sake. Now, all I need is an old woman's scarf and George Michael's sunglasses."

If it weren't for BUCKCHERRY, present day rock would have a massive void. They're a classic rock band with a modern edge. After a three year sabbatical they re-grouped and renewed their hunger for writing music, grabbing rock by the throat, and they are back with a renewed vengeance. Their third and most recent album, "15", spawned a massive crossover hit, "Crazy Bitch", which has brought BUCKCHERRY back to the forefront of America?s music scene.

Josh Todd of BUCKCHERRY said, "The band is thrilled to be invited to play Download this year — it's already been a crazy ride. There's a few bands we want to check out as well. We really are looking forward to our third trip back to England to rock the crowd at Donington Park!"

SHADOWS FALL's music is a heady brew of old-school sensibilities and cutting-edge rock delivered with passion, precision and a refreshing lack of pretension. Their most recent album, "The War Within", has seen them top the Billboard Independent Album Chart, and reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Top 200. Technically the band are seen as one of the most talented in the world, guitarists Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand were in the Top 100 of a recent "Greatest Guitarist Of All Time" poll, while drummer Jason Bittner was named "Number One Up And Coming Drummer" in a similar survey. SHADOWS FALL return to Download for the third time.

Brian Fair, lead singer of SHADOWS FALL said, "It's great to be heading back to the U.K. for Download. We have always had an amazing time playing at the festival and partying with all our friends. It has been two years since our last shows in the U.K. and we can't wait to rock out at Download with SLAYER and MAIDEN this year."

Having sold in excess of 6 million units, DREAM THEATER are one of the most commercially successful progressive bands of the past 20 years. Throughout an impressive career, their live performance has got bigger, longer, more diverse, and less restrictive. Never playing the same set twice on a tour, the band's unpredictability is what the fans have come to expect, and have embraced it knowing that each show is unique. This is DREAM THEATER's Download festival debut.

DREAM THEATER's drummer Mike Portnoy can't wait, "Fuck yeah! It's about time!!! I am absolutely stoked for DREAM THEATER to finally play Download... In a career already filled with so many personal achievements and dreams having been realized, somehow an invitation to play Download or Donington has always eluded us thus far... After all our hard work for the past 21 years and having made so many fans and friends in the U.K., it's nice to finally get the invitation! This gig will come within the first month of a world tour that will last well into 2008 for us, but I can already predict this will be one of the highlights of the year for us..."

Norway's TURBONEGRO are known by many as the world's greatest underground rock band. Their dark, beautiful, catchy and dangerous punk rock sound is a combination of talent, shameless audacity and a true bitterness that sets them apart from other acts.

Throughout their 18-year career their live show has continuously amazed and shocked but never failed to impress. TURBONEGRO return to the Download festival for a second time.

TURBONEGRO's Happy Tom said, "We seem to be every metal bands favorite band, so it's fun to play and party at Download, even though we oppose to downloading per se."