Welcome to Metal Power Rankings: Our weekly rankings take a number of factors into account: newsworthiness, record sales, internet buzz, word of mouth and overall importance in the genre. Ultimately, it’s subjective, but if a band generates enough buzz, they’ll wind up on the list. While Megadeth’s guitar and drum lineup had been rumored  for a while, this week, Dave named the official lineup, and put the band in the news.

1) Megadeth (last week 2)

Dave Mustaine is famed for going out and finding the best players he can when Megadeth’s lineup goes into flux, and damn did he ever deliver this week. First it comes out that Lamb of God’s Chris Adler will be recording drums for the new album, and then it got revealed yesterday that Angra phenom Kiko Loureiro would be taking over at lead guitar. Now all ‘Deth has to do is make an album that isn’t Super Collider, and they’ll hold metal fans in the palm of their hand. We like the chances of that happening.

2) Metallica (last week 7)

Unlike Megadeth, Metallica is more of a sleeping dragon. When that dragon wakes up, it’s going to burn every village it hits, but until then, bits and pieces will keep coming out about the shape that dragon’s taking. Robert Trujillo only has to hint at the heaviness of their new studio material to get fans excited, and that’s really all we needed to hear from Metallica this week.

3) Slayer (last week 1)

The spectre of that new album continues looming large.

4) Between The Buried And Me (debut)

A new song is finally here, and we’ve got an interview with them about it today that suggests they’ll be doing some very intriguing things at New England Metal & Hardcore Fest in a couple weeks. BTBAM remains one of the most influential bands in metal, but they’ve been in need of shaking things up, and it sounds like they’re ready to do just that.

5) Royal Thunder (no change)

Crooked Doors is drawing critical raves from all directions, and as the story around them deepens at press, it’s only going to draw more attention. With this being a softer record than CVI, it’ll be fascinating to see how its impending first week of sales goes, as fans so far seem to be embracing it.

6) Killswitch Engage (re-entry)

It speaks volumes about this band’s following that a simple live DVD clip was one of the more exciting things to happen in metal this week.

7) Tool (from 4)

A solid April Fools’ moment from these guys suggests that new music is actually for real going to happen really soon.

8) Nightwish (from 13)

It’s more of an event in Europe than it admittedly is here when Nightwish releases a new album, but we’d expect fans to turn out in force for it now that it’s in stores and features Floor Jansen in her first album with the long-running symphonic metal titans.

9) Torche (from 6)

Restarter continues to steadily sell a few hundred copies a week. It’s been a breakout record for the band, who undoubtedly made one of the most unanimously-acclaimed records of the year so far.

10) Byzantine (from 12)

Can the cult-favorite, fiercely independent West Virginians make a major dent in favor of the little guy when To Release Is To Resolve releases Tuesday? The whole thing’s streaming on Revolver right now, and Schuler Benson’s interview with them here is a fascinating read if you missed it.

11) Prong (debut)

Most covers albums are nothing special, but Songs From The Black Hole‘s genre-jumping makes for an interesting look into the long-running band’s past.

12) At the Gates (from 11)

The Decibel Tour is churning along, and it’s about as hot of a ticket as you could ask for in the eyes of metal fans.

13) Electric Wizard (debut)

We’d be remiss to not include these guys after their insane sold-out show at NYC’s Webster Hall last night. Their first North American tour in over a decade is off to an explosive start – if you didn’t get a ticket to it already, it’s sold out pretty much everywhere else too, but good luck!

14) Faith No More (from 8)

Not much new on the FNM front this week, but everyone knows undoubtedly that May will be their month.

15) The Dillinger Escape Plan  (from 9)

The Mutoid Man/Primitive Weapons tour is a very intriguing bit of news, and it’s certainly been a little while since we’ve heard new music from them. Could that be the next step?