Neilstein Soundscam: Protest the Fang
Not a lot of huge movement on the charts this week, as October 15th is release the big release date everyone has been looking forward to (Red Fang, Death Angel, Trivium, Pelican, Rivers of Nihil, etc). October 29th will be pretty big one too. But we did see some shuffling around this week.
More detailed sales numbers are available at Metal Insider.
1. ↔ Carcass / Peak: 1 / Last Week: 1 / Weeks On: 7
Albums sold last week: [no data] (Surgical Steel, week four)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 7.7% (300,739 likes · 23,133 talking about this)
YouTube: 391,000 (“Captive Bolt Pistol” official premiere)
It seems crazy that Carcass could occupy the top spot for a third straight week… and yet it’s true! The good will in the metal community around Surgical Steel is at an all-time high; everyone is talking about it as a possible Best of 2013 contender.
2. ↑ Protest the Hero / Peak: 2 / Last Week: 7 / Weeks On: 4
Albums sold last week: 0 (Volition, October 29)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 2.2% (292,370 likes · 6,485 talking about this)
YouTube: 163,000 (“Drumhead Trial” official audio)
This band has done everything right. They’ve released four tracks from the album already, a couple of lyric videos, three versions of the artwork… KILLING IT. Could use to get that FB fan engagement percentage up, though.
3. ↑ Red Fang / Peak: 3 / Last Week: 8 / Weeks On: 3
Albums sold last week: 450 (Whales and Leeches, October 15)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 8.6% (123,725 likes · 10,674 talking about this)
YouTube: 62,000 (“Blood Like Cream” official track)
Those 450 albums somehow sold before the release week… not sure how that happened. But I expect a big debut when the first week numbers come in.
4. ↑ Rivers of Nihil / Peak: 4 / Last Week: 10 / Weeks On: 2
Albums sold last week: 0 (The Conscious Seed of Light, October 15)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 21.1% (8,045 likes · 1,704 talking about this)
YouTube: 37,000 (“Rain Eater” official stream)
“A classic death metal album as seen through the lens of all that modern metal has to offer” is the best description of The Conscious Seed of Light I’ve seen anywhere (stream it in full here). Holy crap, that FB fan engagement percentage! The buzz around this band right now is deafening.
5. ↓ Dream Theater / Peak: 2 / Last Week: 2 / Weeks On: 4
Albums sold last week: 4,275 (Dream Theater, week three)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 1.6% (3,332,972 likes · 52,931 talking about this)
YouTube: 757,000 (“The Enemy Inside” lyric video)
Sliding right past the 50k units sold threshold like a boss.
6. ↓ Ihsahn / Peak: 6 / Last Week: 9 / Weeks On: 2
Albums sold last week: 0 (Das Seelenbrechen, October 22)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 14.4% (45,561 likes · 6,571 talking about this)
YouTube: 28,000 (“NaCl” official stream)
Ihsahn finds himself a popular fellow these days even if reviews of the new record are mixed (I happen to like it a lot). The news that he’ll be producing Matt Heafy’s solo album certainly couldn’t have hurt his media presence.
7. ↓ Metallica / Peak: 3 / Last Week: 3 / Weeks On: 4
Albums sold last week: 7,200 (Through the Never Soundtrack, week three)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 1.6% (32,901,516 likes · 512,804 talking about this)
YouTube: 2.9 million (Through the Never official theatrical trailer)
The movie might not be doing well but the soundtrack is selling. And there’s always DVD sales.
8. ♦ Death Angel / Peak: 8 / Last Week: n/a / Weeks On: 1
Albums sold last week: 0 (The Dream Calls For Blood, October 15)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 8.7% (226,417 likes · 19,636 talking about this)
YouTube: 32,000 (“The Dream Calls For Blood” official lyric video)
The feedback on this album is fantastic, yes? Everyone is digging it. The upcoming tour with Revocation, 3 Inches of Blood, Battlecross and Diamond Plate will do well, I expect. And this record should have a good first week.
9. ↓ Avenged Sevenfold / Peak: 1 / Last Week: 4 / Weeks On: 11
Albums sold last week: 13,700 (Hail to the King, week seven)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 0.8% Fan Activity (15,059,342 likes · 114,198 talking about this)
YouTube: 5.2 million (“Hail to the King” official premiere)
Most bands would be grateful to sell 13,700 copies of a record in its entire life cycle. Avenged Sevenfold do it in one week… seven weeks into the album’s campaign.
10. ♦ Ephel Duath / Peak: 10 / Last Week: n/a / Weeks On: 1
Albums sold last week: 0 (Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness, November 26)
Facebook Fan Engagement: 3.5% Fan Activity (3,629 likes · 126 talking about this)
YouTube: 2,100 (“Shaped by Darkness” lyric video)
The critical acclaim for this Erik Rutan-produced record is pouring in. Let’s see how far Davide Tiso can take it.
