Nancy Kaszerman/ZumaPress.com

Metallica is headed home.

The hard-charging headbangers have unveiled the itinerary for their first North American tour in more than four years—an eternity for its U.S. and Canadian fan base—in support of their forthcoming album, Death Magnetic, hitting stores Sept. 12.

Per an official announcement on Metallica's website, James Hetfield and company will kick off the first leg of the highly anticipated nationwide trek in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Ariz., on Oct. 21, and wrap things up in Newark, N.J., on Jan. 31. Along the way, they'll make stops in such cities as Des Moines, Denver, St. Louis, Houston, New Orleans, Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago, among others.

Metallica will likely announce additional dates for next year in the coming months.

Death Magnetic is the thrash metal band's ninth studio album and has been in the works for over two years.

During that time, Metallica took a break from playing shows on its home turf in favor of overseas gigs at some of Europe's biggest summer festivals. (Though they did make a rare stateside appearance as one of the headliners at this year's Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee.)

The first single from Death Magnetic, "The Day That Never Comes," is expected to ship to radio stations later this month. Supporting Metallica for the entire length of the jaunt will be up-and-coming doom metal group the Sword. Other openers at various points include Down, Machine Head and Lamb of God.

Here's the list of tour dates announced so far:

Oct. 21 - Glendale, AZ @ Jobing Arena
Oct. 23 - Albquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
Oct. 25 - Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
Oct. 26 - Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena
Nov. 1 - Portland, OR @ Rose Quarter
Nov. 3 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Energy Solutions Arena
Nov. 4 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
Nov. 6 - Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center
Nov. 8 - Moline, IL @ iWireless Center
Nov. 9 - Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
Nov. 17 - St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
Nov. 18 - Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center
Nov. 20 - Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
Nov. 22 - Little Rock, AR @ Alltel Arena
Nov. 23 - New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena
Dec. 1 - Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
Dec. 2 - Vancouver, BC @ GM Place
Dec. 4 - Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
Dec. 7 - Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
Dec. 12 - Ontario, CA @ Citizens Bank Arena
Dec. 13 - Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center
Dec. 15 - San Diego, CA @ Cox Arena
Dec. 17 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
Dec. 20 - Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
Jan. 12 - Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center
Jan. 13 - Detroit, MI @ Joe Louis Arena
Jan. 15 - Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
Jan. 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Center
Jan. 18 - Boston, MA @ TD Banknorth Center
Jan. 26 - Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena
Jan. 29 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
Jan. 31 - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center