There will be a lot of rock fans of a certain age that spotted the line-up for the first-ever Haven and Hell and got excited by the prospect at seeing some true legends of the genre right here in Cumbria.

Then there will be many more of all ages for whom one name immediately jumped out - Diamond Head.

Without skirting around the issue, a lot of their recent fame and acclaim can be attributed to the hero worship they regularly receive from the world's biggest metal band, Metallica.

From the moment the US giants covered a large chunk of their back catalogue for a series of B-sides in the 1980s, to sharing the stage with the 'Big Four' of thrash for a run-through of their anthemic Am I Evil? on-stage in front of 50,000 people at Sonisphere, to drummer Lars Ulrich recently labelling Diamond Head's Lightning to the Nations album as being "the blueprint for Metallica", they have been kept in the public's conscience.

But the fact that they still tour the world four decades after forming is down to more than just their associations with rock royalty.

Off the back of last year's self-titled record - their first with new vocalist Rasmus Andersen - they've received plaudits and strong reviews from all quarters which by their own admission have given them a new lease of life.

Founding guitarist and the band's talisman Brian Tatler says: "Of course, there were times where we weren't doing much, and times where the band stopped completely, and it takes a lot of work to get it going again.

"We put our shoulder to the boulder, and it's been rolling now for the past 17 years.

"We're already working on our next album, which is more or less all done except for the lyrics and recording the vocals. It's because of the success of the last album that we were motivated to get working again and kept on writing new stuff.

"We've been doing two or three songs off our new album at each show and they have gone down well. People obviously like to hear the classics, but this gives our singer the chance to get his tonsils around some of the songs he's actually written.

"He's been with us three years now, and it's going really, really well. The album has been so well-received - especially in the music press - much better than we were expecting. It's been a bit of a confidence boost.

"I also really enjoy playing the new stuff too because it's not something you've played thousands of times before, and it gets your brain working."

To Diamond Head, Haven and Hell is another in the long line of European rock festivals they get asked to play each summer.

The all-dayer on Saturday August 5 sees them share a bill with fellow icons Girlschool, Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson's version of Saxon, Massive Wagons, the John Verity Band, Motorhead tribute Stone Deaf Forever, Hammerhead, Syteria, Sex P****d Dolls and Rigid Digits.

But for Brian, he is looking forward to returning to a region where they've not played for more than a decade, and getting the chance to showcase their new songs and new line-up to a knowledgeable bunch of music fans.

"It's more than 10 years ago since we were in that part of the world - again, I think it was part of a rock festival - and I seem to remember it was a great show," says Brian.

"There was a kind of vibe that you pick up where you get the feeling it is a crowd that knows your music and knows about heavy metal. I think It Bites were from up there, and I thought they were a really good band, so that's always been in my mind when I've thought about Cumbria.

"I think we're on just before Girlschool, which I don't mind - we've played under them many times over the years.

"For us, all that matters is that there is a good crowd and they like what we do.

"It's a bit of a treat to play outdoors too, because we play a lot of club gigs these days."

While the rest of the band consists of long-term drummer Karl Wilcox and relative newcomers in rhythm guitarist Andy Abberley, bassist Dean Ashton, it is obviously Brian's baby with him being the only original member left.

But he stresses there are certainly no plans to call it quits any time soon, especially while things are going swimmingly.

Of course, those fabled tracks that Metallica put their own stamp on - Am I Evil?, It's Electric, Helpless, and The Prince - still feature regularly, but far from being lumped in with the nostalgia crowd, Diamond Head are loved for still being a top class live band, and putting out records to rival much of what passes for heavy metal in 2017.

"We've just done Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark - and we're always playing festivals all over the place, so we're as busy as we've ever been," he says.

"Part of it is also that it's so much easier to tour now, and probably cheaper too - you can just load all your gear onto an easyJet, play a festival and fly home.

"It seems like the New Wave of British Heavy Metal has had another resurgence, and that's why there's a lot of bands re-forming and still playing major shows, but with us, I don't think it's just a nostalgia thing.

"You find that at a lot of these festivals they like to have half a dozen 'named' bands, because that's what people like to see, and it's nice that they want to come and see us."

Diamond Head play Haven and Hell at Whitehaven’s Recreation Ground on Saturday August 5. Tickets are available from Whitehaven Recreation Ground, in Coach Road, Threads in King Street, and Alauna Vapour and Billy Bowman, both in Cockermouth.