Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week as well as what’s getting played at Metal radio courtesy of radio trade magazine FMQB, whose metal panel consists of about 80 college and commercial stations that have metal shows, as well as SiriusXM, Music Choice, and more.
A few random musings about the chart. Alice In Chains isn’t a lot of peoples’ definitions of metal, but there are definitely a lot of metal elements to this album, which is great (Metal Sucks has our back on this). The top three albums are by female artists or female-fronted bands, with Barbara Streisand, Paramore, and Mariah Carey taking gold, silver and bronze. In fact, six of the of the top ten albums in the chart are female or female-fronted. The top five bands sold over 126,000 each, which hasn’t happened for a while. And then there’s Dethklok, who have another amazing debut. At FMQB, Hatebreed stake their claim as the kings of metal radio. They’ll probably write a song about being number one, standing up, and persevering. Also, Kittie and Every Time I Die debut in the top ten, while Slayer are most added. Check it out after the jump.
Notable Debuts
Alice In Chains, Black Gives Way To Blue (Virgin) #5 126,000 sold
The crazy thing is that this isn’t even the highest-charting rock band. That honor goes to Breaking Benjamin, the Pennsylvania active rock band, who have the #4 album with 135,000. Who knew they were this popular? I sure didn’t.
AFI, Crash Love
Wow, AFI has a new album out. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve been in a Hot Topic.
Dethklok, Dethalbum II
In a weaker sales week, the sophomore album from Nathan Explosion et al would be a top ten debut. We’re psyched for the new season debuting next month.
Hatebreed, Hatebreed
Their first real album for E1 (sorry dudes, cover albums don’t count) has a nice week, selling about 6,000 more than For The Lions did.
Austrian Death Machine, Double Brutal
Anyone catch “Ahnuld” on the Howard Stern show a few weeks back? This is an ok debut, but I think the first one did better first week. Could be the novelty is wearing off.
Steel Panther, Feel the Steel
After Dethklok and Austrian Death Machine, this is the third cartoon band to debut this week!
Buckcherry, Live & Loud 2009
3,000 crazy bitches that like the cocaine, that like the cocaine, picked up the band’s first live album.
Evergreen Terrace, Almost Home
This is definitely a better band named after a Simpsons reference than Fall Out Boy is.
Doomriders, Darkness Comes Alive
Nate from Converge’s side project on his singer’s label has a solid debut.
Melvins, Chicken Switch
Does anyone care about a Melvins remix album? Apparently yes.
Notable Sales:
Five Finger Death Punch, War Is The Answer
Already up to 63,000 sold in only two weeks.
Megadeth, Endgame (Roadrunner) #68, 8,600 sold
Whaddya mean I’m number 68 this week? This album’s continuing to sell well based off its buzz.
Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11 (ATO) #92, 6,200 sold
A nice 14% gain this week. And it’s not even like it’s from their Conan O’Brien appearance. They were the scheduled musical guest the night he hit his head and the show was cancelled.
Chickenfoot, Chickenfoot (Redline/Fontana) #139, 3,900 sold
4,000 copies is about where these guys are finding themselves, which means it’ll be about 450,000 by the end of the year, not counting the Christmas rush.
Ace Frehley, Anomaly (Rocket Science) #150 3,500 sold
It’s a little weird to think that anyone named Ace has credibility, but it seems like he’s definitely got more integrity than Paul and Gene, who would slap a KISS logo on their moms if they thought someone would buy them.
Insane Clown Posse, Bang! Pow! Boom! (Psychopathic) #151, 3,500 sold
Just like Neil Young is the godfather of grunge, ICP are the godfathers of horrorcore. Yeah, I just compared Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope to Neil Young.
Porcupine Tree, The Incident (Roadrunner) #179, 3,000 sold
Over 25,000 prog fans have picked up The Incident so far.
Shadows Fall, Retribution (Everblack Industries/Ferret) #188, 2,800 sold
This will probably fall off the top 200 next week. Not an amazing showing considering how good this album is. They’ve still probably made more on their own label in three weeks than they did in their whole career as a major.
Despised Icon, Day of Mourning (Century Media) 1,500 sold
There’s a lot of Canadian metal out there these days.
Skindred, Shark Bites and Dog Fights
We liked Benji more when he was in Dub War, but Skindred is still playing their brand of “Ragga Metal” over 10 years later.
3 Inches of Blood, Here Waits Thy Doom (Century Media) 800 sold
Did you guys catch “Deadly Sinners” in the Brutal Legend ad? Pretty awesome. Watch for an interview with the band coming soon.
Sonata Arctica, The Days of Grays
Currently on the road with Dragonforce, these guys are the slightly more (but still power metal) yin to the ‘Force’s ADD-addled yang.
It Dies Today, Lividity (Trustkill) 750 sold
3,500 sold so far. The band’s third album is off to a relatively slow start.
Bring Me The Horizon, Suicide Season (Epitaph) 700 sold
What’s a BMTH remix album going to sound like? To us, it sounds like it’s unncessary, but time will tell when it comes out next year.
Anvil, This is Thirteen (VH1 Classic) 700 sold
Only a 14% drop, but considering the movie aired on VH1 over the weekend, we thought there might be a bounce.
Attack Attack!, Someday Came Suddenly (Rise) 600 sold
They’ve been on the charts for as long as Bring Me The Horizon, but thankfully haven’t announced a remix album yet.
The 69 Eyes, Back in Blood (The End) 500 sold
This will cross 3,000 sold next week. Not too shabby.
FMQB Most Added
1. Slayer “World Painted Blood” single (American/Columbia)
2t. Black Cobra, Chronomega (Southern Lord)
2t. Immortal, All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast)
4. Horse the Band, Desparate Living (Vagrant)
5t. November’s Doom, Into Night’s Requiem Infernal (The End)
5t. Paradise Lost, Faith Divides Us… Death Unites Us (Century Media)
1. Hatebreed, Hatebreed (E1)
2. Megadeth, Endgame (Roadrunner)
3. Shadows Fall Retribution (Everblack Industries/Ferret)
4. Dethklok Dethalbum II
5. 3 Inches of Blood, Here Waits Thy Doom (Century Media)
6. Black Dahlia Murder, Deflorate (Metal Blade)
7. Kittie, In The Black (Koch Records)
8. GWAR, Lust In Space (Metal Blade)
9. Municipal Waste, Massive Aggressive (Earache)
10. Every Time I Die, New Junk Aesthetic (Epitaph)
