With the muted reaction that Machine Head’s Catharsis received from critics, you’d think that they might have had a Suicide Silence-like disaster on their hands. However, the album sold about 9,000 units in its debut week. That’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it is worth noting that that’s less than half of what their last album, Bloodstone & Diamonds, sold it in it’s first week back in 2014. That’s certainly not the lowest number of records the band have sold in it’s first week, however. In fact, Through the Ashes of Empires didn’t even come out in America. The band had been on an upward trajectory sales-wise until now, however. The Blackening sold 16,000 in it’s first week back in 2007, and Unto the Locustsold 17,000 four years later. While streaming has obviously impacted sales, this has to hurt a bit.
Then again, the news of Machine Head selling less in the states is offset by their chart success in the rest of the world . #3 record in Germany?Achievement unlocked! It’s also #12 in the U.K, their highest showing there yet. It’s Australia’s #10 album as well. It’s not the first time international support has helped out the band. It was the success overseas of Through the Ashes of Empires that led Roadrunner to re-sign the band. And as their ‘An Evening With’ tours have shown, there’s still a huge appetite for the band stateside. Perhaps the sound of the album or Flynn’s outspoken left-leaning songs convinced some fans to sit this album out. And if not, Machine Head doesn’t even need to lean super hard on the U.S. market if they can tour overseas. Flynn hasn’t commented on his U.S. sales yet, but the band trumpeted their international debut, which they have every right to be proud of, on Instagram. Stay tuned for the rest of this week’s chart action in Metal by Numbers.
Mayhem have unveiled a visualizer for their new single, "Despair." The track is taken from their upcoming album, Liturgy of Death, scheduled to arrive on February 6, 2026. Nearly four decades into their career, Mayhem frame death not as an ending but as an inevitable...
A few weeks have flown since we shared 37 albums recently announced. Since then there’s now 2059 New & Noteworthy metal releases on record this year. In the fast-moving world of new music, missing even a week means missing countless new songs and album...
Rob Zombie has unleashed a video for his latest single, “Heathen Days.” The track is taken from his upcoming album The Great Satan, scheduled to arrive on February 27th via Nuclear Blast Records. Watch the clip below and pre-order the album here:
New & Noteworthy is Metal Insider’s weekly column highlighting some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. This final week of November sees releases from the likes of Excide, Blut Aus Nord, Plosivs and Equilibrium amongst the many outstanding...
New & Noteworthy is Metal Insider’s weekly column highlighting some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. This week will see the release of Aerosmith and Yungblud’s collaborative EP and a holiday album from Stryper, as well as new works from...
New & Noteworthy is Metal Insider’s weekly column highlighting some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. This week saw new albums from the likes of Cheap Trick, The Devil Wears Prada, Mezzrow and Of Mice & Men amongst the many...
