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The tour headbangers have been waiting for - featuring Godsmack and the Deftones - finally pulls into the Boston area this weekend. Both are populist bands that have another thing in common: They met on the Ozzfest tour two years ago, which is further evidence that Ozzfest has become a breeding ground for hard-rock acts of the future.

''Yeah, we hung out at Ozzfest and became buddies,'' says Godsmack bassist Robbie Merrill.

''Everybody is excited. These are two bands that play rock the way it was meant to be played,'' Deftones singer Chino Moreno says of their pairing tonight and tomorrow at the Tweeter Center. ''We may come from different areas of rock, but everything is going to be cool.'' Boston's Godsmack is a more straight-ahead, Aerosmith-influenced headbanger band, while Sacramento's Deftones merge neo-hardcore, metal, and hip-hop (they have a turntablist) into their sound. And both, above all, are totally committed to what they do. ''The reason that we're here is because of hard work,'' says Merrill. ''We're never satisfied with our shows. Maybe we think too much, but that's the way we are.''

''I'm going to make music as long as I can stand up, and I'll be in this band as long as it is a band,'' says Moreno.

'' This tour is great because all the pressure of selling a record is off our backs,'' Moreno adds. ''We were going to sit at home and make a new record, but then [Godsmack's management] called, and here we are. And, really, we wanted to go out this summer and have fun anyway.''

''The Deftones were one of the first bands we wanted on tour with us,'' says Merrill. ''They draw a good crowd, and we wanted to get both of our crowds together.''

Godsmack clearly isn't afraid of playing with anyone. Witness its winter/spring tour with Springfield's up-and-coming Staind as opening act.

Staind has since sold 3 million copies of its latest album, ''Break the Cycle,'' which is as many as Godsmack sold with its debut CD. Staind will be on this fall's Family Values tour (with Stone Temple Pilots), but meanwhile Godsmack is tearing up the sheds with the Deftones - and with Puddle of Mud as a second opener tonight and Boston's Reveille as second opener tomorrow.

''We have some other surprises for people this tour,'' says Merrill. ''For one, we have a bigger PA system than before, and more pyro going on. Plus it's a homecoming show for us. We're looking forward to it.''

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