Given the strong buzz among the metal and rock crowd for the lineup this year, this is shaping up to be the best lineup the three year tour has had. Also, given the fact that OzzFest is rumored to be a two-day festival later this summer and the Mayhem tour doesn’t start until July, the Gigantour has the metal world all to itself right now. Like past years, the Gigantour lineup has been hand picked by mastermind Dave Mustaine. When picking this tour, Mustaine looks for bands that will please the technical side of the music form, but accessible enough to keep fans interested in the headbanging side of things happy as well.

Mustaine’s band, the highly influential Megadeth, is once again headlining the tour this year. The band has been touring behind their United Abominations album, which was released in May 2007. The latest album has been hailed as a return to their thrash roots. With tracks like “Sleepwalker” and “Never Walk Alone,” the album is vintage Megadeth that will recall classic records such as “Rust In Peace” and “Countdown to Extinction.” After a short break earlier this decade, Mustaine has retooled the lineup of the band and has strayed away from the more radio friendly material that was starting to show up on such records as 1998’s “Risk.” Mustaine is firmly back in control of the band’s vision and has it set for the future.

Here are the other bands on the Gigantour bill:

In Flames: The Swedish melodic death metal band had a bit of a resurgence with their Come Clarity record, which seemed to gain the long time band more fans than ever. The band has been recording and touring since the mid-90s and has plenty of great underground material such as “The Jester Race” and “Clayman.” The band recently released A Sense Of Purpose and had a strong debut on the Billboard Album Charts at #28.

Children Of Bodom: Probably the fastest rising metal band at the moment, the Finnish band had a major bump on the album charts this past week, with their album Blooddrunk debuting at #22. Lead by guitar viritouso Alexi Laiho, Bodom has seen their star rising big time in the past few years. The music may initially come off as death metal, but is much more melodic than most of their peers.

Job For A Cowboy: The Arizona band was all the rage at last year’s Sounds of the Underground Tour. Their style is closer to a Cannibal Corpse style of death metal and it's really a take it or leave it type of metal. The band is out supporting their 2007 release, Genesis.

High On Fire: The Bay Area underground metal band received rave reviews for their Death is The Communion album, released last fall. Tracks like “Fury Whip” and “Waste of Tiamat” showcase guitar/singer Matt Pike’s talents and makes them a force to be reckoned with in any metal sub-genre. They may be playing first, but make sure not to miss them.

Gigantour 2008 will be in the Detroit area at DTE Energy Music Theatre on Saturday, May 3^rd. Tickets range from $20 to $39.50 and are available at www.palacenet.com.