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. With the exception of Disturbed, it’s been a pretty quiet week, but there’s enough big stuff on the horizon that to reshuffle the order.
1) Slayer (from 2)
With the Mayhem Fest having kicked off, and it’s headliner coming out with a new album in September, you’re damn right Slayer is #1.
2) Lamb of God (from 3)
There’s really not a ton going on with the band this week, but with less than a month until the album’s released and a tour with Slipknot about to kick off, there’s enough excitement to keep them near the top.
3) Disturbed (debut)
Quietly, Disturbed have been plotting a return from their hiatus for the last year, sneakily recording an album that’s coming soon and a single that’s already logged 1.6 million views in a few days.
5) Refused (from 3)
Now that you’ve had a chance to listen to Freedom, you should maybe pick it up when it’s out on Tuesday.
6) Mutoid Man (re-entry)
The same thing goes for Mutoid Man. One of the most uptempo and tight power trios we’ve heard in a while, and they totally bought it live last week when we saw them in NYC too.
7) Metallica (from 6)
Master of Puppets sold 4,700 copies this past week. Let that sink in for a minute. That’s more than double what the Black Album sold this week, which is impressive enough on it’s own. Justice sold another 4,000 too.
8) Slipknot (from 9)
If you miss them on their upcomign tour, it might be the last you’ll see of them for a while. The Knotfest announcement is pretty exciting too.
9) Motorhead (debut)
It’ll be nice to see Motorhead on tour again, especially since they’ve got a new album to play stuff from.
10) Failure (from 14)
Now that the album’s streaming, there should be a lot more people realizing that it picks right up where Fantastic Planet left off.
11) Lindemann (no change)
Peter Tagtren and Till Lindemann’s album will be out on Tuesday, and it’s the filthiest record we’ve heard since 2 Live Crew.
12) After the Burial (debut)
Usually a studio update is pretty benign. Not so with After the Burial guitarist Justin Lowe. His paranoid conspiracy-filled letter led the band to let him go and make a statement.
13) The Black Dahlia Murder (debut)
“Vlad, The Son of the Dragon” is furious and hooky at the same time. It’s a great introduction to their new album, and we’re looking forward to hearing more.
14) Iron Maiden (from 1)
It’s exciting that new Maiden is coming soon, but its not coming soon enough!
15) Kobra and the Lotus (debut)
Did we mention we’re sponsoring their tour? Because we’re sponsoring their tour. Also, their new EP of Canadian cover songs sounds fun.
