Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
Even though this week sees releases from major metal draws like Devildriver and Darkest Hour, its post-hardcore group Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows’ debut album that has the highest metal/hard rock debut. This supergroup (or D.R.U.G.S. for short…clever eh?) features ex-Chiodos singer Craig Owens, Matchbook Romance drummer Aaron Stern, Underminded guitarist/vocalist Nick Martin, From First To Last guitarist/vocalist Matt Good and Story Of The Year bassist Adam Russell. In other words, it’s post-hardcore/pop punk fans’ dream come true, and metal elitists’ nightmare come to life. But we’ve really gotta hand it to Devildriver for continuing to sell over 10,000 copies. Not only did Pray For Villains only come out a year and a half ago, for any band to continue to have sales like that proves that they’re a core act of whatever genre they are.
Notable Debuts:
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, D.R.U.G.S. (Sire) #28, 14,000 sold
Seeing as how Chiodos’ most recent album (and first post splitting with Owens) did back October compared to D.R.U.G.S.’ debut, we’d say it’s pretty clear who fans have sided with.
Devildriver, Beast (Roadrunner) #41, 11,270 sold
Their fifth studio album falls slightly short from matching their last album, Pray For Villains, (#35, 14,600 sold), but still a very strong week nonetheless.
Darkest Hour, The Human Romance (eOne Music) #158, 3,600 sold
The group’s first release through eOne Music has a great first week. However, it’s not be Darkest Hour’s highest chart ranking debut (that would be 2009’s The Eternal Return with #104), nor its highest selling debut (that’s 2005’s Undoing Ruin with 8,500).
I See Stars, The End Of The World Party (Sumerian) 4,350 sold
The post-hardcore, pop punk group’s first week’s sales will make them want to party in celebration.
Earth, Angels of Darkness Demons of Light 1 (Southern Lord) 1,000 sold
Don’t you just love stoner metal groups with cello?
Evergrey, Glorious Collision (SPV/Steamhammer) 880 sold
Despite losing three out of five members, Everygrey experience a solid first week on the charts.
Notable Sales:
Kid Rock, Born Free (Atlantic) #24, 14,650 sold
Despite an 18% decrease, the rap-rocker turned country bad ass is back in the top 30.
Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns (Warner Bros.) #52, 10,100 sold
In 24 weeks, LP has sold over 701,600 copies of their latest album. That’s about 108,400 less than what 2003’s Meteora made…in its first week.
Five Finger Death Punch, War is the Answer (Prospect Park) #96, 5,490 sold
Apparently FFDP is back in the studio readying their follow up to their sophomore album.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network Movie Soundtrack (The Null Corporation) #111, 5,000 sold
Looks like this soundtrack is getting a nice boost in sales from its Oscar buzz. Considering this is taking into account its sales from the week prior to their Oscar win, expect this album sell even more in the next few weeks.
Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare (Warner Bros.) #114, 4,850 sold
After 31 weeks, could A7X’s reign on the charts be coming to an end soon?
Disturbed, Asylum (Reprise) #126, 4,330 sold
Same chart position as last week’s, but Disturbed experiences a 20% decrease in sales.
Rev Theory, Justice (Interscope), #137, 4,000 sold
Rev Theory experiences a 57% decrease and falls 66 spots down the charts in their second week.
Emmure, Speaker of the Dead (Victory) #165, 10,360 sold
The deathcore favorites experience a 67% decrease and falls 102 spots down the charts in their second week. And we thought Rev Theory had a rough second week on the charts.
A Day To Remember, What Separates Me from You (Victory) #171, 3,330 sold
Interesting note: their current tour with Bring Me The Horizon, Pierce The Veil, and We Came As Romans have sold out a majority of its dates (including two shows in Philadelphia and a show in New York City). Wow! Pretty impressive.
Asking Alexandria, Stand up and Scream (Sumerian) 1,280 sold
A 15% decrease for one of two Asking Alexandria’s releases.
Deicide, To Hell With God (Century Media) 1,100 sold
A 50% decrease for who we expect to be God’s least favorite band.
The Damned Things, Ironiclast (Island) 1,000 sold
A 5% increase in sales is a (very) small victory, but a victory nonetheless for the underselling debut of this supergroup. Hitting a wall of selling 1,000 copies of their album a week is a problem most bands wish they had, though.
Crowbar, Sever the Wicked Hand (eOne Music) 720 sold
Another 40% decrease for the sludge metal kings in their third week.
Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (Universal) 680 sold
Seeing as how low this album has been selling in the States, it’s a bit odd that it’s been nominated for “Best Album” at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards. There performance at the ceremony, though, will most likely give them more (and very needed) exposure.
OFF!, The First Four EPs (Vice) 670 sold
A solid jump in sales for the hardcore/punk supergroup.
We Came As Romans, To Plant A Seed (Equal Vision) 570 sold
The Metal By Numbers staple’s remaining stay on the charts might be in question, seeing as they experience another 19% decrease.
Asking Alexandria, Life Gone Wild EP (Sumerian) 710 sold
Fan of the band’s Skid Row covers? Well now you’ll get the chance to see them perform it live with none other than Sebastian Bach himself!
Death, The Sound of Perseverance [2CD Reissue] (Relapse) 440 sold
This reissue of one of death metal’s staple albums experiences a 55% decrease in its second week on the charts.
After the Burial, In Dreams (Sumerian) 420 sold
Not entirely sure what brought these guys back from such a long absence off the charts, but we’d expect their current tour with As I Lay Dying has something to do with it.
Dr. Acula, Slander (Victory) 380sold
A 65% decrease is something a band may flip out over.
