Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
Some bands are long overdue for some recognition, and Kreator are one of them. Certainly they’re the most well known of the Teutonic thrash scene (which includes Sodom, Destruction, and Tankard to name a few), but if we’re at least talking from an album sales perspective, Kreator didn’t hit any notable chart positions here until Hordes of Chaos in 2009. Now they are in 2017 with a debut that eclipses all other chart performances in the US. It’s not just over here either; the new album debuted at number 1 in the band’s native Germany for the first time in their career. Das ist gud, no?
Dangerkids, blacklist_ (Paid Vacation)1,250 sold
Stephen Pearcy,
Xandria, Theater of Dimensions (Napalm)
#180 (Debut)
1,000 sold
Xandria’s seventh album nets them their best debut yet in the US.
Betraying the Martyrs, The Resilient (Sumerian)
830 sold
This is the third album from the band, and it didn’t debut anywhere near its predecessor.
Advent, 
Hour of Penance, Cast the First Stone (Prosthetic)
The Great Old Ones, 
Set and Setting, 
Curses, Notable Sales:
Metallica, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (Blackened)
#22 (from 15)
7,500 sold
A 10% drop. ICYMI: They’ll be playing with Lady Gaga at the Grammys.
AFI, AFI (The Blood Album) (Concord)
#58 (from 2)
3,225 sold
A drop of 89% in week two.
Disturbed, Immortalized (Reprise)
#72 (from 80)
2,875 sold
A hefty boost of 38%. Also, another 14,000 people downloaded “The Sound of Silence”.
Starset, 
I Prevail, Lifelines (Fearless)
#85 (from 67)
2,200 sold
Over 50,000 sold.
Highly Suspect, The Boy Who Died Wolf (300 Entertainment)
#96 (from 137)
1,975 sold
A big 53% boost, likely because the album is on sale on iTunes.
Halestorm, ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs EP (Atlantic)1,850 sold
A drop of 23%.
Avenged Sevenfold, The Stage (Capitol)
#107 (from 79)
1,825 sold
A 12% drop. Maybe a tour with Metallica would give this a boost?
Skillet, Unleashed (Atlantic)
#109 (from 114)
1,800 sold
Cookin’ up a 21% boost.
Five Finger Death Punch, Got Your Six (Prospect Park)
#144 (from 135)
1,275 sold
A slight drop of 3%.
Iron Maiden, The Book of Souls (BMG)
#166 (from 169)
1,100 sold
Another boost for Maiden, this time by 18%.
Korn, The Serenity of Suffering (Roadrunner)
#169 (from 160)
1,100 sold
A tiny boost of 3%.
Shinedown, Threat To Survival (Atlantic)
#187 (from 172)
960 sold
This also gets a tiny boost of 3%.
Thousand Foot Krutch, Exhale (TFK)
#193 (181)
900 sold
Yet again, a boost of 3%.
Gemini Syndrome, Memento Mori (Another Century)
690 sold
Huge boost for the band, current on tour with Starset.
Palisades,
Letters From The Fire,
As Lions, Selfish Age (Better Noise)
Debut #131
260 sold
Stitched Up Heart, Never Alone (Another Century)
240 sold
A 31% boost stitches things up nicely.
Aversions Crown, An 82% drop in week two.
Red Sun Rising, Polyester Zeal (Razor & Tie)
200 sold
Firewind, 
Never Say Die, 
