Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
Out of the four metal/hard rock related albums to debut on the charts this week, only one made it into the top 200. Debuting in the top 30 are Southern rockers Black Stone Cherry with their third album Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea. This is relatively impressive since the album apparently leaked to the bittorrent tracker Demonoid three days prior to its release due to an employee error at an unspecified Walmart. Guess this goes to show you, though, that touring with mainstream rock acts like Nickelback and Alter Bridge will definitely open you to a larger audience.
Notable Debuts:
Black Stone Cherry, Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea (Roadrunner) #28, 13,120 sold
Coincidentally, the band’s previous album, 2008’s Folklore and Superstition, also debuted at #28 on the Billboard charts.
Melvins, Sugar Daddy (Ipecac) 920 sold
Pretty decent first week sales considering that this is the 12th live release from The Melvins.
Pagan’s Mind, Heavenly Ecstasy (Steamhammer/SPV) 620 sold
Not an awful first week in sales for the Norwegian prog metal group. Though we guess this further proves that Norway prefers another type of metal.
Autopsy, Macabre Eternal (Peaceville) 560 sold
You’d somewhat think that the band’s first album of new material since reuniting last year would sale a little bit more.
Notable Sales:
Seether, Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray (Wind-Up) #16, 15,940 sold
Still in the top 20 despite a 32% decrease in their third week on the charts.
Foo Fighters, Wasting Light (RCA) #31, 12,060 sold
Not only did they just release a new video for “Walk,” but the band also performed the single this past weekend at the MTV Movie Awards.
Hollywood Undead, American Tragedy (A&M/Octone) #65, 6,400 sold
After a slight boost in sales last week, the rapcore group experiences a 17% decrease.
Kid Rock, Born Free (Atlantic) #79, 5,380 sold
The American badass has sold over 920,000 copies of his latest album in 29 weeks.
Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare (Warner Bros.) #106, 3,960 sold
Roughly around the same place on the charts as last week.
Five Finger Death Punch, War is the Answer (Prospect Park) #139, 3,240 sold
After 89 weeks, FFDP have remained in the top 140.
Sixx:A.M., This is Gonna Hurt (Eleven Seven) #107, 3,190 sold
A 21% decrease sees Nikki Sixx and co. fall down the charts by 33 spots. Guess it does hurt.
Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns (Warner Bros.) #164, 2,700 sold
A 5% increase in sales is all it took to help LP jump up the charts by 26 spots.
Asking Alexandria, Reckless and Relentless (Sumerian) # 186, 2,450 sold
Like Hollywood Undead, the metalcore princes experienced a nice jump in sales last week, but have now fallen 29 spots down the charts with a 17% decrease.
Disturbed, Asylum (Reprise) #193, 2,400 sold
With another 9% decrease, Disturbed’s time on the charts is coming even closer to an end.
Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (Universal) 1,360 sold
The Danish garage metallers are starting to see a modest improvement in sales for their latest album, with another 8% increase in their 29th week on the charts.
For the Fallen Dreams, Back Burner (Rise) #151, 1,050 sold
After debuting in the top 200 last week, the metalcore group’s third album experiences a 65% decrease in its second week.
Boris, Heavy Rocks (Sargent House) 870 sold
A 52% decrease for the experimental Japanese rockers during their second week on the charts. Maybe fans are still confused as to whether they’re purchasing the latest album or the 2002 album of the same name.
Boris, Attention Please (Sargent House) 660 sold
We forgot to mention last week that Boris had two albums that debuted on the charts. After selling around 1,790 in its first week, this album experiences a 63% decrease in its second week.
Memphis May Fire, The Hollow (Rise) 530 sold
An 8% increase for the Southern metalcore group.
Art Of Dying, Vices And Virtures (Reprise/Intoxication) 520 sold
After experiencing modest jumps in sales over the past two weeks, the Canadian hard rockers experience a massive 53% decrease in sales.
Cave In, White Silence (Hydra Head) 430 sold
The band’s first album of original material since reforming in 2009 experiences a massive 68% decrease in its second week on the charts.
Scar Symmetry, The Unseen Empire (Nuclear Blast) 410 sold
Another 55% decrease for the Swedish metallers.’
Red Fang, Murder the Mountains (Relapse) 370 sold
The stoner metal group barely hanging in there after experiencing another 37% decrease.
Hate Eternal, Phoenix Amongst the Ashes (Metal Blade) 340 sold
Also barely hanging in is the death metal legends Hate Eternal, who experience another 15% increase in their third week.
