With less than a month to go before the group launches its North American tour behind last year's "St. Anger," Metallica [ tickets ] has begun plotting dates for a second batch of shows.

So far, only three May dates in the Midwest have been nailed down; late-April stops in the South and Northeast are rumored, but could not be confirmed at press time.

Metallica, which last June delivered "St. Anger"--its first new studio set since 1997's "Reload"--is expected to play more than 70 North American shows this year. The "St. Anger" title track was recently nominated for a Grammy award in the Best Metal Performance category.

Squaring off against Metallica in that same category is the tour's support act, Godsmack [ tickets ], for the single "Straight Out of Line. The cut is featured on the group's latest full-length, "Faceless," which hit stores last April. The group plans to offer up some "new music" in March, according to its website. No additional details have surfaced.

Last month, a documentary titled "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, which is scheduled for wide release in May, will first appear at a number of additional festivals; more details are posted at Metallica's website

Metallica is also readying a 272-page, over-sized, hardcover book that will include more than 1,000 photographs, as well as band members' hand-written entries, drawings and more. The tome, tentatively titled "So What! The Metallibook by Metallica," is expected in stores next August, according to a press release.