Rumours have surfaced that Metallica are set to play a gig in Antarctica this December, in an event sponsored by Coca-Cola.

The Columbian Coke Zero website indicated via a poster that the metal titans were set to play the Earth’s southernmost continent in a Coca-Cola funded event. This coincides with a statement from drummer Lars Ulrich in an interview last month in which he cryptically claimed that ‘there’s a very interesting thing coming our way in December’, and that Metallica were heading for ‘another frontier’.

Though nothing seems to have been confirmed, a gig in Antarctica would certainly live up to Ulrich’s claim. This gig would make Metallica one of the only bands to have played the area, and allow them the rare boast of having performed on every continent.

Who the potential crowd would consist of is unclear – though the image of a horde of penguins headbanging to ‘Master of Puppets’ would be a joy to behold. Antarctica has no permanent residents, though at any given time between 1000-4000 research scientists – often biologists, oceanographers and glaceologists – are based there. Coca-Cola, who appear to be sponsoring the event, have funded independent expeditions to the continent in the past.

Metallica’s feature film, ‘Metallica: Through the Never’ was released in the UK at the beginning of the month. A new album is expected at some point next year.