Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
For the past seven years, words like “retirement”, “farewell”, and phrases like “final album” have dogged Judas Priest. There was the Epitaph Tour, K.K. Downing’s retirement, and their studio first album in six years. Now, with the recent news of Glenn Tipton’s Parkinson’s Disease and semi-retirement from touring, such talk has risen again. Of course, many bands that have been around as long as Priest have been through similar motions from Black Sabbath’s final world tour to Brian Johnson’s departure from AC/DC. It’s tough living in the age where we see legends either hang it up or pass away, but, in the case of Priest, with the release of Firepower and Tipton’s appearance on stage last night in New Jersey, it’s also heartening to see them still giving it their all.
Notable Debuts:
Judas Priest, Firepower (Columbia)
48,000 sold
Firepower tops 2014’s Redeemer of Souls as Priest’s best US debut.
Three Days Grace, Outsider (RCA)
15,000 sold
I haven’t included Three Days Grace on here in the past, but guess I might as well start now. Their sixth album sold more than double its predecessor.
Between The Buried And Me, Automata I (Sumerian)
13,500 sold
Part one of BTBAM’s double album doesn’t sell quite as much as 2015’s Coma Ecliptic.
Myles Kennedy, Year of the Tiger (Napalm)
9,000 sold
This is Kennedy’s debut solo album.
Nightwish, Decades (Nuclear Blast)
6,000 sold
This greatest hits compilation goes along with the band’s current tour.
Ministry, AmeriKKKant (Nuclear Blast Records)
4,000 sold
This sold a little better than 2013’s From Beer To Eternity, which was supposed to be the band’s final album.
Suicidal Tendencies, Get Your Fight On! EP (Suicidal)
1,500 sold
This is the band’s first EP in ten years and precedes a new studio album.
Drudkh, They Often See Dreams About the Spring (Season Of Mist)
700 sold
This is the Ukrainian black metal band’s eleventh album.
Twitching Tongues, Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred (Metal Blade)
400 sold
This is the band’s fourth LP.
Notable Sales:
Metallica, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (Blackened)
11,000 sold
This sold seven times what it did last week.
Five Finger Death Punch, A Decade Of Destruction (Prospect Park)
5,250 sold
A 25% boost.
Greta Van Fleet, From the Fires EP (Lava)
4,100 sold
90,000 sold.
Michael Schenker Fest, Resurrection(Nuclear Blast)
2,100 sold
A 48% drop in week two
Pop Evil, Pop Evil (eOne)
1,000 sold
A drop of 7%.
Foo Fighters, Concrete and Gold (RCA/Roswell)
950 sold
Just under 230,000 sold.
Evanescence, Synthesis (BMG)
810 sold
A boost of 17%.
Theory of a Deadman, Wake Up Call (Atlantic)
900 sold
45,000 sold.
Linkin Park, 
Black Label Society, Grimmest Hits (eOne)
750 sold
45,000 sold.
The Plot In You, Dispose (Fearless)
820 sold
A 15% drop.
Andrew W.K., You’re Not Alone (Sony)
500 sold
A 87% drop in week two.
Asking Alexandria, A 36% drop.
Slaves, Beautiful Death (SBG)
980 sold
A 54% drop.
Iron Reagan/Gatecreeper, Split (Relapse)
1,550 sold
A 81% second week dorp.
Turnstile, Time & Space (Roadrunner)
300 sold
A 55% drop.
Righteous Vendetta, Cursed (Century Media)
200 sold
A 44% drop.
Power Trip, Nightmare Logic (Southern Lord)
200 sold
A 5% drop.
Sons Of Apollo,
Entheos, Dark Future (Spinefarm)
220 sold
A 9% drop.
Harm’s Way, Posthuman (Metal Blade)
200 sold
A 31% drop.
Knocked Loose, Laugh Tracks (Pure Noise)
200 sold
Same sold as last week.
Visigoth, Conquerer’s Oath (Metal Blade)
200 sold
This sold half of what it did last week.
Legend Of The Seagullmen, Legend Of The Seagullmen (Dine Alone)
200 sold
A 53% drop.
Turbonegro, RockNRoll Machine (Scandinavian Leather)
200 sold
A 43% drop
