Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.

 

Notable Debuts:

AC/DC, Rock or Bust (Columbia) #3, 171,900 sold

Quite an impressive bust, eh? Well, not bad, but just six years ago, their last album Black Ice sold an amazing 784,000 copies in its first week, and went platinum in its second week.

 

Issues, Diamond Dreams (Rise) #125, 3,925 sold

Almost 4,000 people have issues this week. The metalcore band’s acoustic EP was bundled with their debut album as a re-release, so this is all digital sales.

 

21st Century Goliath, Back With A Vengeance (Self-Released) 1,500 sold

This Charlotte, NC band had a pretty impressive first week for their sophomore album. Given that it’s totally self-released, you’ve got to admire their hustle.

 

The Killing Lights, The Killing Lights (Self-Released) 1,450 sold

The artists formerly known as Vampires Everywhere! did pretty well for a self-released album, even without Doc Coyle.

 

Notable Sales:

Foo Fighters, Sonic Highways (RCA) #15, 28,850 sold

Most artists would be pretty happy selling 305,000 albums in four weeks. The Foos should be too. If only they could get a little more exposure.

 

Slipknot, .5: The Grey Chapter (Roadrunner) #57, 8,625 sold

A 25% drop still has them at about 230,000 in about seven weeks.

 

In This Moment, Black Widow (Atlantic) #74, 6,750 sold

It’s taken only three weeks for In This Moment to sell more than 50,000 copies of their fifth album.

 

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, World On Fire (Dik Hayd) #144, 3,500 sold

A 51% increase in sales puts them back on the charts with about 67,000 sold.

 

Black Veil Brides, Black Veil Brides (Republic) #149, 3,450 sold

The band still have another week left of their tour with Falling In Reverse.

 

Godsmack, 1000hp (Universal Republic) #150, 3,450 sold

This has sold about 150,000 in 18 weeks, which is only 33,000 more than their last album, The Oracle, sold in its first week.

 

Various Artists, Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 6 (Fearless) #174, 2,580 sold

With a 39% drop this week, punk isn’t the only thing going pop.

 

Five Finger Death Punch, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Vol. 1 (Prospect Park) #178, 2,775 sold

This has sold over 445,000, which is a lot of albums considering that there’s a whole other volume out there. This will eventually go gold, like the band’s first three albums. The second volume will take longer to do so.

 

Linkin Park, The Hunting Party (Warner Bros.) #195, 2,350 sold

With a 40% drop this week, they’re one step closer to falling off the chart next week.

 

Circa Survive, Descensus (Sumerian) #196, 2,350 sold

A massive 80% drop shows that Circa’s fans are definitely loyal enough to get out and buy the first week.

 

Amaranthe, Massive Addictive (Spinefarm) 640 sold

A nice 7% increase puts the Swedish metal band roughly around teh same number and chart posistion they were last week.

 

Fugazi, First Demo (Dischord) 540 sold

It took 10 shows until Fugazi recorded their first demo in 1988. It took 540 people buying a reissue of it 26 years later to get them back on the charts.

 

 

King 810, Memoirs of a Murderer (Roadrunner) 440 sold

Looks like the dates with Slipknot and Korn are payingoff, as the band have a 31% increase from last week. They’vesold about 7,000 so far.

 

Bloodbath, Grand Morbid Funeral (Peaceville) 420 sold

A 35% drop in week three still brings the tally to about 2,600

 

Stars In Stereo, Leave Your Mark (Hundred Handed) 370 sold

Naked. Or at least #NSFW. That’s what their video is.

 

Sanctuary, The Year The Sun Died (Century Media) 330 sold

A 32% increase in it’s eighth week on the chart is nothing to sneeze at.

 

Antemasque, Antemasque (Nadie Sound) 320 sold

There should be an Antemasque tribute band called Promasque. No?

 

Texas Hippie Coalition, Ride On (10 Spot) 320 sold

This rides on for another week, consistently selling in the 300 range. Lead singer Big Dad Ritch is probably consistently in the 300 range as well.

 

Silent Planet, The Night God Slept (Solid State) 310 sold

This has a slight increase in its fifth week.

 

Rival Sons, Great Western Valkyrie (Earache) 310 sold

The Scott Ian endorsement might have  helped lead to a 48% increase this week.

 

Rings of Saturn, Lugan Ki En (Unique Leader) 270 sold

They not only lost a member, but they also got 18% less people buying their album than last week.

 

Primordial, Where Greater Men Have Fallen (Metal Blade) 260 sold

A 65% drop in week two. But hey, greater men have fallen farther…