Scott Ian has confirmed that he will not be appearing with The Big Four at this summer's Sonisphere festival.The Anthrax guitarist, who will be taking time out for the birth of his first child, will be replaced by Sepultura axeman Andreas Kisser"I've been debating on whether or not to make a public statement about this as it really pertains to my personal life and I generally like to keep that personal," wrote Ian in an official statement. "Because this is affecting my band life I feel like you, my loyal friends, deserve to hear from me personally. I won't be playing the shows scheduled from July 2 - 16 in Europe and the UK. My wife Pearl and I are expecting our first child and she is due literally the day of the Big Four Sonisphere show in France."This decision to miss these shows was a deeply personal one," he added. "I co-founded this band July 18, 1981 and for almost thirty years, I have been there for everything we've ever done. I have never been faced with anything that would make me even question being there for anything Anthrax related. Becoming a father is the biggest, best thing that's ever happened to me and it made the decision relatively easy. My priority is with my wife and the birth of our first child. As soon as I was faced with this decision, I knew, as Freddie Mercury so eloquently said, 'the show must go on'."