Ah, 2001. It was a simpler time. People still cared about rap-metal, and San Diego’s Payable On Death released their fourth album, Satellite – on September 11th. In the wake of what else happened on that day, the album’s first single, “Alive” became somewhat of an inspirational anthem. After that album, they slowly lost relevance, yet their signing to Razor & Tie last year appears to have paid off. The band’s eighth album, Murdered Love, which sees them reunited with Satellite producer Howard Benson, had the top metal debut of the week. Meanwhile, the Warped Tour and Scream It Like You Mean It tour appear to be influencing sales of some bands as well.
Notable Debuts
P.O.D., Murdered Love (Razor & Tie) #17, 16,000 sold
While this is less than half of the 34,000 copies that Where Angels and Serpents Dance sold back in 2008, given four years out of the public eye and the overall changes in the industry, this is a solid debut.
Serj Tankian, Harakiri (Serjical Strike/Reprise) #28, 11,500 sold
This is more than Serj’s last solo album, Imperfect Harmonies, which sold a little over 10,000 copies. However, his first solo album, Elect the Dead, moved 66,000 copies about five years ago.
Staind, Live From Mohegan Sun (Armoury/Atlantic) #107, 3,850 sold
This is a really low number, even for a live album. Until you realize that it’s the soundtrack companion to a Blu-Ray/DVD release.
Glass Cloud, Royal Thousand (Equal Vision) 1,900 sold
This new band, which features Jerry Roush from Sky Eats Airplane and The Tony Tapdance Extravaganza’s Josh Travis, has a nice debut for a new band.
Thick As Blood, Living Proof (Rise) 420 sold
This is the band’s first album for Rise, and second overall.
Notable Sales
Various Artists, Rock of Ages Soundtrack (Water Tower Music/Warner Bros.) #29, 11,500 sold
Are people buying this out of sympathy for Tom Cruise? There’s gotta be some reason, especially since the movie bombed so quickly it’s basically almost on cable already.
Rush, Clockwork Angels (Roadrunner) #50, 8,000 sold
At least Rush has sold more albums than Rock of Ages, and in less time, too.
Shinedown, Amaryllis (Atlantic) #94, 4,400 sold
This album’s half gold in about 16 weeks. That’s pretty solid performance.
Five Finger Death Punch, American Capitalist (Prospect Park) #114, 3,600 sold
Zoltan Bathory – one of the weirdest names in metal, or one of the weirdest names period?
Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (Universal) 2,800 sold
This is one of the few bands on this chart that has an uptick in sales (4%). It’s just continuing to grow on an almost weekly basis.
Tenacious D, Rize of the Fenix (Columbia) #126, 3,200 sold
This will hit the 100,000 sold mark in a few weeks.
Slash, Apocalyptic Love (Dik Hayd) #127, 3,200 sold
This has sold about 85,000 copies in eight weeks. That’s not amazing, but it’s probably more than the rest of the former GN’R members have sold combined.
Falling In Reverse, The Drug In Me Is You (Epitaph) #129, 3,200 sold
An 18% jump this week means that at least some kids are spending their allowance money on CD’s and downloads after the Warped Tour.
Memphis May Fire, Challenger (Rise) #134, 3,000 sold
25,000 copies in three weeks is pretty phenomenal for this southern metalcore band. Looks like He Is Legend might have reformed just in time.
Halestorm, The Strange Case Of… (Atlantic) #139, 2,900 sold
We saw these guys in New York yesterday. Oh wait, that was a real hail storm.
Periphery, Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal (Sumerian) #140, 2,900 sold
A 76% second week drop isn’t all that surprising, but they still have a good second week. Not to mention, they’ll be on the Summer Slaughter tour starting soon.
Sleeping With Sirens, If you were a movie, this would be your soundtrack (Rise) #155, 2,700 sold
if this was an annoying album title, it wouldn’t be capitalized and would be too long
Nile, At the Gate of Sethu (Nuclear Blast) 1,350 sold
They should call their next album Pyramid Scheme. You know, cause it’s Egyptian and shit? No? I’m sorry.
Abandon All Ships, Infamous (Rise) #122, 1,300 sold
This melodic dance-core band has a pretty typical 62% drop in their second week. Also, I can’t believe I wrote “melodic dance-core” in the last sentence.
Vampires Everywhere, Hellbound and Heartless (Century Media) 760 sold
Remember a few years ago, when True Blood and Twilight made vampires cool for about a minute? I’ll be these guys do. Big time.
Otherwise, True Love Never Dies (Century Media) 650 sold
This band sounds exactly what you would expect a band that went on the road opening for Pop Evil to sound like.
Kreator, Phantom Antichrist (Nuclear Blast) 600 sold
Another pretty solid week from a band that’s in the midst of a career renaissance.
Dying Fetus, Reign Supreme (Relapse) 560 sold
Hard to imagine these guys have been around for 21 years. Dying Fetus is old enough to drink!
Memphis May Fire, Hollow (Rise) 465 sold
These guys are big Warped Tour winners, as even their 2011 album is selling again. Impressively, their new album has sold more than this has in only three weeks.
Delain, We Are the Others (Sensory) 450 sold
A second week increase of less than 50% suggests that there’s still demand for this female-fronted orchestral metal band.
Upon A Burning Body, Red. White. Green. (Sumerian) 380 sold
This sold about the same as it did last week, showing that the Mayhem Fest is paying off for them.
Skip the Foreplay, Nightlife (Epitaph) 360 sold
Another Warped Tour band, their sales are up 4% from last week.
Like Moths To Flames, When We Don’t Exist (Rise) 350 sold
Showing a 125% increase from last week, this is probably in direct correlation to their appearance on the Scream It Like You Mean It tour.
Melvins Lite, Freak Puke (Ipecac), 340 sold
The Melvins are like an old Ford F150. Dependable workhorses that many people probably take for granted.
Deathspell Omega, Drought (Season of Mist) 330 sold
The band have a modest increase (8%) in their second week.
At The Skylines, Secrets To Life (Roadrunner) 320 sold
Another beneficiary of the Scream It Like You Mean It tour, these metalcore minstrels have a 53% increase.
