It was a busy weekend for Metallica [ tickets ], who offered up a new album on Friday (9/12), and then added second-night performances in several cities after fans snapped up tickets to see the band during its upcoming tour.

The band, which last month rolled out a North American itinerary that gets underway in late October, saw robust sales for previously announced single-night performances in the Los Angeles and Chicago areas, as well as in Newark, NJ, prompting the metal icons to add encore performances in each of those cities. The group's schedule, which is included below, comprises a fall leg that stretches deep into December, and a winter leg that picks up in mid-January and now extends into early February.

Metallica's decision to release "Death Magnetic" on a Friday rather than keep with the traditional Tuesday release for albums in the US echoes a move they first made with their 2003 album, "St. Anger." Despite the late release, the new set is expected to rack up a first-week sales total of about a half-million copies when the books close at midnight tonight (9/16), according to Rolling Stone.

"Death Magnetic" marks the first time that Metallica has worked with superproducer Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slayer), whom the group selected after recording exclusively with producer Bob Rock since the early '90s. The highly anticipated new set features a sound reminiscent of the band's pre-1991 output, and could shore up the pioneering metal act's reputation, which took a hit when "St. Anger" received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike.