Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top sellers of the week as well as what’s getting played at Metal radio courtesy of radio trade magazine FMQB, whose metal panel consists of about 80 college and commercial stations that have metal shows, as well as SiriusXM, Music Choice, and more.

Queensryche’s latest album, American Soldier, shows that the band’s still got legions of fans. Meanwhile, another classic metal band, namely Heaven and Hell, are Most Added at FMQB.

Notable Debuts:

Queensryche, American Soldier (Rhino) Debut #25 21,000 sold
Their last album, Operation Mindcrime II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold, had a better first week, but this is still a solid start.

Silverstein, Shipwreck in the Sand (Victory) Debut #42, 13,500 sold
Their last album debuted at 25 a few years ago.

Burn Halo, Burn Halo (Rawkhead/ILG) Debut #129, 4,900 sold
Former 18 Visions frontman James Hart has a new band.

Impending Doom, Serpent Servant (Facedown) Debut #144, 4,300 sold
Christian Metal band has well over 4,000 first-week believers

Wolves in the Throne Room, Black Cascade (Southern Lord) 1,000 sold
One of the best black metal albums of the year, in BITPOM’s opinion. Watch for an interview with Southern Lord owner Greg Anderson on BITPOM soon.

Notable Sales:

Mastodon, Crack the Skye, (Reprise) Debut #44, 13,000 copies sold
55,000 copies in two weeks is a great start, even with a 68% drop from its debut week.

Hollywood Undead, Swan Songs (Octone) #60, 10,000 copies sold
Crunk-core? More like rap-metal. This could have come out a decade ago and no one would’ve been able to tell the difference. Which is why it’s doing so well.

Metallica, Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.) #68, 9,600 copies sold
Taking a 31% increase from last week, the Rock Hall inductees see a bounce that puts them at about 1.72 million sold. Watch out, AC/DC!

Lamb of God, Wrath (Epic) #108, 6,000 copies sold
2009′s metal album of the year (according to radio charts so far anyway) is continuing to sell briskly.

Disturbed, Indestructible (Reprise) #114, 5,500 copies sold
This album will probably have sold 1 million copies in two months or so, by which point it will have been out for a year.

Static-X, Cult of Static (Warner Bros.) #118, 5,300 copies sold
32,000 copies sold in three weeks is a good start.

AC/DC, Black Ice (Columbia) #121, 5,100 copies sold
Out for nearly half a year, the album actually has an increase this week.

Slipknot, All Hope is Gone (Roadrunner), #127, 5,000 copies sold.

Avenged Sevenfold, Avenged Sevenfold (Warner Bros.) #164, 3,600 copies sold
Like Disturbed, this one just keeps on selling.

Bring Me The Horizon, Suicide Season (Epitaph) 1,450 copies sold
Selling roughly the same as last week, they’ll have sold 50,000 in a few weeks.

God Forbid, Earthsblood (Century Media) 850 copies sold
Hopefully, the Forbids will be able to stick it out without founding member Dallas.

Hammerfall, No Sacrifice No Victory (Nuclear Blast) 800 sold
800 people put down their broadswords and headed to a computer or record store this week.

Winds of Plague, Decimate the Weak (Century Media) 450 copies sold

FMQB Most Added

1. Heaven and Hell, “The Bible Black” single (Rhino)
2. Ministry, Adios… Putra Madres (13th Planet)
3. Tardy Brothers, Bloodline (Candlelight)
4. Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Agoracalypse (Relapse)
5. Bulletmonks, Weapons of Mass Destruction (Napalm)

FMQB Top Ten Albums

1. Mastodon, Crack the Skye (Reprise)
2. Lamb of God, Wrath (Epic)
3. Static-X, Cult of Static (Reprise)
4. Queensryche, American Soldier (Rhino)
5. Lazarus A.D., The Onslaught (Metal Blade)
6. Chimaira, “Secrets of the Dead” single (Ferret Music)
7. God Forbid, Earthsblood (Century Media)
8. Psychostick, Sandwich (Rock Ridge)
9. Kylesa, Static Tensions (Prosthetic)
10. Napalm Death, Time Waits for No Slave (Century Media)