Last week saw the official announcement of the highly-anticipated Soundwave Festival lineup for its 2013 iteration. With some surprises – such as two of ‘The Big Four’ in Metallica and Antrhax – some populist appearances (Linkin Park, Garbage, Paramore) and some that we already knew about (such as pop punksters The Offspring and Blink 182).

But of course, that was just the first batch of acts, and while it’s nothing to sniff at – there’s still the second round of bands to contend with’ and just as the first lineup confirmations had their fair share of links, so too has the second lineup announcement.

Soundwave boss and serial tweeter AJ Maddah has already confirmed that we can expect the second round announcement to arrive sometime between the ticket pre-sale and general release; and once again, he remains at the centre of many of the delicious rumours and leaked confirmations.

FasterLouder points out that Maddah has been bigging up the second announcement, which reportedly contains 22 acts, with claims that “there is no precedent for this kind of line-up!”, adding that “this is out 10 year anniversary edition. Next year will return to normal,” in response to fan queries that having Metallica as headliners meant that the festival could not get bigger.

Speaking of the metal titans, their appearance on the festival bill along with Antrhax begun whispers that the other two cohorts of ‘The Big Four’ – Slayer and Megadeth – could be part of the second-round, but Maddah has shot down that suggestion saying: “This is not a big 4 gig”, so you can just stop holding your breath for that one.
Billy Talent have also been leaked, with Maddah tweeting:

Not that it’s too much of a surprise either, given the band have just wrapped up a whirlwind Australian visit with Soundwave Touring.

UK hardcore/punk act Gallows could also have accidentally spilled the beans a little early on their confirmation for the bill, in a reply to a fan, while Maddah pretty much sealed the deal with his Simpsons-esque response.

Given that Wade McNeil, former guitarist for Alexisonfire, is the new frontman for Gallows, there’s the obvious rumour that his former hardcore pals could make a Soundwave 2013 appearance. But given they just announced a brief reunion for a global farewell tour (including two Australian dates squeezed in), it seems like a long shot – but so did a farewell tour to begin with…

The surprise confirmation of the recently reunited A Perfect Circle in the first lineup announcement has also suggested that vocalist Maynard James Keenan will make room on the schedule for his solo side-project, Puscifer to make an appearance. Solidified when Keenan tweeted his fellow bandmates in an open meeting, writing:

As for those hoping Keenan will bring his other other band, Maddah has already ruled out Tool.

Hawk-eyed tweet diggers will also have picked up on confirmations from American mathcore act, The Chariot and “crunkcore” act Blood On The Dancefloor; and as usual nearly every band that plays loud, heavy and/or fast have been linked in to second round announcement – with stronger bets being The Vandals, Deftones and Killswitch Engage.

All will be revealed soon enough…

UPDATE 17 AUG: The second lineup has now been announced including Slayer, Cypress Hill, and more

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