Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.
This week sees a handful of new releases making their debut, five of whom making it into the top 200. However, for the second week in a row, the top metal and hard rock release comes in the form of a live album. This week, it’s Soundgarden’s first ever live album, Live On I-5, that has the top debut coming in at #47. Seeing as how the recently reunited grunge pioneers’ two new releases post reuniting (including the live album and the hits package Telephantasm) have debuted in the top 50, it’s safe to assume that their highly anticipated new studio album will experience an impressive first week…whenever it gets released.
Notable Debuts:
Soundgarden, Live On I-5 (A&M) #47, 11,000 sold
Though Chris Cornell has said that there are no deadlines set for Soundgarden’s first album in 15 years, this live album’s impressive first week sales might be an indicator that fans are anxious for new music. That or fans are trying to tell Soundgarden that they want them to perform more shows. Both are strong possibilities.
Protest the Hero, Scurrilous (Vagrant) #79, 6,750 sold
Though selling slightly less than 2008’s Fortress (which sold about 7,600 in its first week at #95), the Canadian progressive metal band’s third studio album is their highest ranking debut. Very impressive indeed.
Born of Osiris, The Discovery (Sumerian) #112, 4,810 sold
Though their second album has a solid first week, it falls considerably short to 2009’s A Higher Place (which sold over 6,000 copies and ranked in at #73 in its first week). Read more »
The Human Abstract will be hitting the road this Summer with Scale The Summit, This Or The Apocalypse, Letlive, No Bragging Rights, and Across The Sun.
The unfortunate news is that apparently guitarist Jeff Hanneman is still not healthy enough to rejoin Slayer on the road. And to add onto that grief, Exodus’ Gary Holt, who has been filling in since the band started their Australian tour, won’t be available to help out Slayer past their upcoming European tour. Fortunately, though, Slayer has already found another guest guitarist to help them out: Cannibal Corpse’s Pat O’Brien.
O’Brien’s first gig with Slayer will be in Zagreb, Crotia on April 6. Currently he is only scheduled to perform with the band until April 14 in Eindhoven, Holland, though it is unclear as to whether O’Brien’s services will be utilized any further after that. While O’Brien performing with Slayer will be an exciting sight for metal fans to see, as it was with Holt’s appearance, it’s also a bit of a bummer knowing that Hanneman’s condition is still not well enough for him to return to the stage. We’ll still hoping for a speedy recovery for the Slayer guitarist.
You can check out all of the dates featuring guest guitarists (both with Holt and O’Brien) below. We’ll keep you posted when more develops. One interesting question that we didn’t think of earlier this week when the Slayer summer tour was announced: Is Exodus opening as a thank you for Holt filling in for Hanneman, or will Holt be doing double duty and playing with Slayer?
Slayer’s remaining dates with Gary Holt:
3/30: Pavilhao Atlantico, Lisbon, Spain
4/1: St. Jordi Club, Barcelona, Spain
4/3: Rome Atlantico, Rome, Italy
4/4: Gran Teatro, Padova, Italy
Slayer’s performances with Pat O’Brien:
4/6: Zagreb Arena, Zagreb, Crotia
4/7: Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
4/8: Arena Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
4/10: Prague O2 Arena, Prague, Czech Republic
4/11: Lodz Sportshall, Lodz, Poland
4/13: Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzgerland
4/14: Klokgebouw, Eindhoven, Holland
Looks like there’s one less place to buy H.I.M. shirts online now, as Hot Topic’s online retailer, Shockhound.com, is shuttering in May. Actually, the site was a decent place to buy DRM-free music, and had some decent original content to go along with the retail part of the site. Shockhound had just launched in October of 2008. The site is being shut down in a cost-cutting effort. Hot Topic lost money in the fourth quarter of last year, and the CEO and merchandising chief both left the company last week.
Remember when HD Radio was supposed to be terrestrial radio’s savior? The digital signal boasted surround sound, it was a lot clearer than a normal broadcast signal, there were additional substations on HD2 and HD3 bands, and best of all, it’s free once you buy an HD-compatible radio. But with all the choices available to consumers, a different version of terrestrial radio just hasn’t caught on so far. Apparently, the HD Radio Alliance thought they might be able to change things by redesigning and relaunching their site, hdradio.com. However, daily music industry e-mail RAMP noticed that the formats of the stations on their station guide is hopelessly out of date. New York’s K-Rock (WXRK) is still listed as a rock station, but they’ve been dance for two years now. And Los Angeles station Indie 103.1 hasn’t been an alternative station for several years, either. Maybe they should have taken some time to update their station list before launching a new site. What’s frustrating is that HD Radio isn’t a terrible idea. While terrestrial radio isn’t necessarily “cool,” and won’t be as long as endless commercials take away from music listening, it’s still immensely popular, especially for those that commute by car. But HD is like an uncle going through a midlife crisis by buying a new sports car and dressing like “the kids” do. It’s trying a little too hard, and it shows. We’re just waiting for one alternative/rock station to come up with an all-metal sub-channel and then we’ll start listening.
Last December, bassist Jonathan Miller took time off from Devildriver to enter rehab for a drug and alcohol addiction. However, now it would appear that his departure from the band is permanent. Miller announced that he has left Devildriver for good, releasing the following statement:
“I just wanted to thank all of the Devildriver fans around the world for their die-hard love and support for the past nine years.
Yesterday, I decided to leave Devildriver. It was the most difficult decision of my life but it is something that I needed to do for myself.
I had the best times of my life hanging out with all of you guys, but it is time for me to move on.
Much love to everyone.”
Devildriver’s tour manager Aaron Patrick (a.k.a. Bubble) has been filling in on bass since Miller entered into rehab. Patrick has also previously played with Bury Your Dead. Information regarding Miller’s permanent replacement, though, has yet to be revealed. We’ll keep you posted when more develops.
While it’s unfortunate to hear about Miller’s departure as fans of Devildriver, it’s would appear that either Miller is still struggling with his own demons or at least recognizes that life on the road and in the band is not the best for his continuing recovery. Either way, good for Miller for thinking what’s best for him.
Update: Miller’s “official written resignation” to his former band mates can be seen over at Blabbermouth.
[picture via]
Sin-Atra, a new album featuring interpretations of songs by Ol’ Blue Eyes featuring Devin Townsend, Joey Belladonna, Dee Snider and many more, is currently streaming in its entirety over at AOL Music.
Iron Maiden’s Rock In Rio live performance was enough proof that fans in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil love the band. But an incident that occurred at the band’s recent show in Rio further proves that point. Unfortunately, though, video of the incident is more of a scary sight than the DVD of the 2000 live performance.
During Iron Maiden’s show in Rio Sunday night (March 27), a barricade collapsed due to a surging crowd of fans. The band was only half way through their first song of the set, “Satellite 15 … The Final Frontier,” when the incident happened. Once finishing the song, the band was forced to stop the show in order to fix the barricade, with singer Bruce Dickinson pleading with fans to take it easy. Though they said they would return after ten minutes, it became clear that the barricade was unfixable, forcing the entire show to come to a halt for the safety of the audience. However, when revealing the bad news, Dickinson informed the disappointed audience that they would make up the show the following evening.
Video of the barricade breaking and fans pushing their way towards the stage can be seen above, while Dickinson’s speech afterwards to the audience can be seen after the jump. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported thus far from the incident. In fact, from the vantage point of where it was being filmed, it doesn’t look like it was that big of a problem. But kudos to Dickinson and the concert promoters for putting safety over profit.
Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy) will be joining Devildriver and Jamey Jasta’s tribute performance to Black Flag at this year’s Revolver Golden Gods Awards Show, while Cherie Currie of The Runaways will be joining Volbeat during their performance.
That’s right, not only will Captain Kirk himself be on hand at the Revolver Golden Gods this year, but he’ll also be receiving an award. It’s been revealed that William Shatner will receive the “Honorary Headbanger Award” at this year’s metal award show. This award is bestowed upon a celebrity figure outside of the metal world but still “embodies the spirit.” In other words, Shatner is getting it because of his new album Seeking Major Tom, which features appearances from Zakk Wylde on a cover of “Iron Man,” Deep Purple’s Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore (ex-Deep Purple), and Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez.
Shatner had the following to say about receiving the honor:
“Short of receiving an Emmy for my superb voice, the Honorary Headbanger Award is the next best thing. Praise be you won’t hear me sing.”
I know a lot of people felt I was a little harsh on Shatner before, but does anyone else think this is a bit much? I’m not by any means saying he isn’t anything less than awesome, but does Shatner seriously deserve a metal award simply because he’s collaborated with Zakk Wylde on a cover that won’t even be released until later in the year? Or am I taking this far too seriously than I should? Yeah, probably over-analyzing this far too much…
Well, one cool thing about this is that we might get to see a surprise performance from the “Honorary Headbanger” himself. While no actual performance has been confirmed, the Revolver Golden Gods Award Show would be a great place for Shatner to debut his “Iron Man” cover, don’t you think?
Posted by Metal Insider on Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Metal By Numbers