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

Unfortunately, we missed out on all of the action on the charts last week because of Thanksgiving break. However, we return just in time to see the holiday shopping season kicking into gear. One way you can always tell Christmas is right around the corner is when you see half the charts dominated by Christmas albums, greatest hits compilations, and mainstream acts (this week, it’s Nickelback’s seventh album that tops the latter category). And while not many new releases made a splash on the charts this week, a few big metal/ hard rock titles from the past year saw a nice boost in sales thanks to Black Friday and Christmas shopping.

Notable Debuts:

Nickelback, Here And Now (Roadrunner) #2, 226,700 sold
Guess even a few angry Detroit Lions fans can’t stall sales for the Canadian rock band. And sales for Nickelback’s seventh album are also impressive considering it only sold around 100,000 copies less than 2008’s Dark Horse. Granted, these guys aren’t metal, and won’t be a mainstay of Metal By Numbers, but their success allows Roadrunner to keep putting out albums by the likes of Machine Head and Opeth.

Chris Cornell, Songbook (Universal) #68, 18,550 sold
Considering that this acoustic live album is simply a collection of the Soundgarden frontman’s three EPs that were released in the past few weeks, this is an impressive first week.

In the Midst of Lions, Shadows (Facedown) 1,080 sold
Christian deathcore may seem like a weird subgenre, but this band’s third album has a solid first week.

Theocracy, As the World Bleeds (Nightmare) 640 sold
The Christian prog metal band’s third album is off to a slow start.

Notable Sales:

Evanescence, Evanescence (Wind-Up) #64, 19,230 sold
Amy Lee and co.’s third self-titled album gets a big 82% boost in sales from last week. Now we know what many grandparents got their teenage granddaughters who went through a goth phase in middle school for Christmas.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Lost Christmas Eve (Lava) #95, 13,170 sold
This album from the classical/ metal holiday band came out in 2004. So how did it suddenly reappear on the charts in the past few weeks? Well, Christmas is right around the corner…

Five Finger Death Punch, American Capitalist (Prospect Park) #99, 12,840 sold
Despite dropping down the charts by 46 spots, FFDP experience a 12% increase in sales from last week.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Christmas Eve & Other Stories (Lava) #107, 12,010 sold
So not only does the classical/ metal holiday band have one album back in the top 200 years after its original release, but TWO (this particular album came out in 2006). Yup, it’s Christmas season.

Disturbed, The Lost Children (Reprise) #128, 10,300 sold
Disturbed’s b-side album drops 79 spots down the charts, and experiences a 25% decrease in sales. Considering it’s an album full of leftovers, though, it’s still selling pretty well.

Foo Fighters, Wasting Light (RCA) #180, 7,240 sold
Also experiencing a massive boost from the holidays is Dave Grohl and co., who get an 88% increase in sales from last week.

Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (Universal) 1,420 sold
The Danish garage metal group could use a little holiday cheer, or at least a new guitarist.

H2O, Don’t Forget Your Roots (Bridge Nine) 1,060 sold
The hardcore punk legends’ covers album made its debut on the charts last week, and only experiences a 16% decrease in sales.

Like Moths To Flames, When We Don’t Exist (Rise) 820 sold
The deathcore group’s latest album gets a slight boost in sales (7% to be exact) in their third week.

Cynic, Carbon-Based Anatomy (Season of Mist) 530 sold
The prog rock band’s latest EP made its official debut last week, selling around 920 copies. However, Cynic sold a few extra copies the week before thanks to pre-sales.

Carnifex, Until I Feel Nothing (Victory) 500 sold
The deathcore group experience a modest 5% increase in sales, having sold a little less than 5,400 in five weeks.

Russian Circles, Empros (Sargent House) 430 sold
Another 20% decrease for the Chicago instrumental trio in their fifth week on the charts.

A Plea For Purging, The Life & Death of A Plea for Purging (Facedown) 370 sold
If this metalcore group could have one wish for Christmas, we bet they’d be pleading for more people to buy their album.

Red Fang, Murder the Mountains (Relapse) 360 sold
The stoner rock group has sold about 12,000 copies of their sophomore album.