NEILSTEIN SOUNDSCAM: SUICIDE SILENCE, FAIR TO MIDLAND AND DECAPITATED DEBUTS [AND AN ARCH ENEMY CASE STUDY]

A bunch of big records came out last Tuesday: Suicide Silence, Fair to Midland, Sepultura and Decapitated. After the jump we’ll take a look at how those and a few recent releases sold over the past week.

But first, a follow-up on a question I asked in last week’s column: how do the numbers for Arch Enemy’s Khaos Legions stack up against their past releases? I don’t have week-by-week breakdowns for each album to compare to Khaos Legions‘ cumulative total of 13,944 after five weeks, but these total sales figures for Arch Enemy’s best-selling albums should provide some frame of reference:

Anthems of Rebellion: 74,712
Doomsday Machine: 108,036
Rise of the Tyrant: 55,812
Wages of Sin: 71,688

With Khaos Legions falling off the charts in week six, that means they sold less than 1,092 units last week, the minimum number required to crack the Top 100 Hard Music Chart. Based on that I’d say it’s going to be a tough climb for Gossow, the Amotts and co. to match their past success this time around.

ANYWAY, back to last week’s big releases:

Top Hard Music Charts

1 INCUBUS – IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
Last week: 79,561 (debut)

Once a hit, always a seller. I lost interest in Incubus after Morning View but I really have nothing against them.

2 THEORY OF A DEADMAN – TRUTH IS
Last week: 37,618 (debut)

Theory of a Deadman: still a band.

3 SUICIDE SILENCE – BLACK CROWN
Last week: 14,401 (debut)

Pretty f’n big number for a band so heavy. I guess the popularity of deathcore hasn’t yet diminished.

4 FOO FIGHTERS – WASTING LIGHT
Last week: 9,419
Cume: 515,228

Actually went up 11% from last week. A legendary 14-week run so far… and still going strong.

6 FAIR TO MIDLAND – ARROWS & ANCHORS
Last week: 6,711 (debut)

Really solid for a band that’s never had a record out on a label as big as Eone. I should like this band in theory, but I can’t quite get in them.

9 TESLA – TWISTED WIRES
Last week: 5,192 (debut)

Whoa, really?

10 LIMP BIZKIT – GOLD COBRA
Last week: 4,842
Cume: 39,960

36% drop from last week is all you need to know.

14 SLEEPING GIANT – KINGDOM DAYS IN AN EVIL AGE
Last week: 3,940 (debut)

Righteous Christian metalcore still sells!

32 EMPHATIC – DAMAGE
Last week: 2,551 (debut)

Hi, Bino!

34 SEPULTURA – KAIROS
Last week: 2,461 (debut)

Kinda disappointed this sold slightly more than…

41 DECAPITATED CARNIVAL IS FOREVER
Last week: 2,133 (debut)

I’m really curious how this stacks up against the band’s past releases. I’d think with all the press the band received following their tragic accident and all the run-up for this album, it would’ve done better than 2,133… but I honestly don’t know. Regardless, this album absolutely crushes.

54 BLACK DAHLIA MURDER – RITUAL
Last week: 1,810
Cume: 21,048

Still going strong but definitely starting to peter out. Expect a bump during Summer Slaughter.

58 MEGADETH – PEACE SELLS BUT WHO’S BUYING
Last week: 1,769
Cume: 662,102

I can’t imagine the folks at Capitol would have decided to reissue a classic Megadeth album if they’d known it would only sell 1,769 additional units. Can’t have been worth it.

80 QUEENSRYCHE – DEDICATED TO CHAOS
Last week: 1,404
Cume: 12,017

Dedicated to Suck. The only people buying this are Queensryche die-hards who probably haven’t heard it yet. 

-VN