The Bronx will welcome home Anthrax when the metal band returns to the borough next Wednesday for the highly anticipated Big 4 concert at Yankee Stadium.

The Bronx natives will perform live at the stadium, along with other metal giants Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer, and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is pulling out all the stops to make them feel at home by officially declaring September 14 as “Anthrax Day in the Bronx.”

The official website for Gibson guitars has released what they perceive to be the top 50 metal songs of all time. Gibson.com’s writers and editors worked on compiling the list over several weeks, releasing 10 entries at a time, and recently released the top 10, which declared the number one metal song to be “Master of Puppets” by Metallica.

In some ways, the number one spot for Metallica is fitting, considering 2011 is the 25th anniversary of the release of their Master of Puppets album. Having said that though, metalheads are notorious for having fierce and strong opinions about what they consider to be their “top songs,” on top of their fierce and strong opinions about what bands are or are not even metal.

With just a few more days left til the end of February, now’s the time to get in on Amazon’s $5.00 MP3 album deal of the month for February 2011: 100 Albums For $5.

Here’s some of my favorite picks from the 100 albums on sale: Dio‘s first album Holy Diver; John Lennon‘s Imagine; Pat Benatar‘s Crimes Of Passion; and Fugazi‘s 13 Songs. There’s plenty of other selections from other genres (I saw some R. Kelly, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, Usher, The Judds, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, The Smiths, Violent Femmes, Frank Sinatra, and many more.)

There’s also a $.69 Song Sale (they are typically $.99 each) where thousands of songs are discounted. You can go to the main page and then view by genre from the list on the left — there’s 102 hard rock/heavy metal songs to choose from (you know that’s my area) from bands like Megadeth, Accept, Sepultura, Tesla, Free, and Corrosion Of Conformity. (If you’re into Latin music, there’s over 1,155 tunes.)

Metal Sucks posed a question this week: If The Big Four were The Big 8, which bands would be the next four in the group?

If you’re unaware, The Big 4 Tour is comprised of thrash metal giants Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. The tour is scheduled to arrive in just one city this April in the United States, much to the dismay of metalheads across the nation who wanted the tour to hit more cities.

I’ve seen some reactions from fans who aren’t in total agreement with this touring line-up, stating that not every band on the bill fits the “Big 4” mold. I happened to think it’s a great bill, but I’ve wondered what other bands would fit nicely on this tour.

So, if The Big 4 Tour was actually The Big 8 Tour, what four additional bands do you think deserve to be on it?

Check out my picks below and let me know what yours would be.

Earlier this week, it was teased that The Big 4 tour — comprised of top thrash metal acts Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax — would be coming to America. When the announcement was made yesterday, it turned out to be only one U.S. concert date in Indio, California on April 23, 2011 [read: WTF? The Big 4 To Play A Small 1: Only One U.S. Show Announced], much to the dismay of metalheads across the nation.

We’ve all been left wondering WHY there’s only one U.S. concert being offered when it’s obvious there’s a demand for this bill in America. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich gave an explanation for this in a Los Angeles radio station interview.

On yesterday’s “The Kevin & Bean Show” on KROQ-FM (106.7), Ulrich said, “Let’s take baby steps here.”