SOUNDSCAN: BEHEMOTH VS. WINDS OF PLAGUE — WHO WON?
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Vince NeilsteinBehemoth vs. Winds of Plague; Poland vs. America; Corpsepaint vs. wigger hats; ugly men vs. hot chick; real metal vs. deathcore; substance vs. gimmick. Who won????
The answer, as well as more of this past week’s metal Soundscan chart positions and sales figures, after the jump.
49 THRICE – BEGGARS
This week: 10,416 (debut)
Considering the debacle that unfolded involving the super-early leak of this album, that’s a damn fine number. Especially taking into account that it’s digital only.
56 BEHEMOTH – EVANGELION
This week: 8,451 (debut)
It makes me so happy that a band that sounds the way Behemoth do can sell so well. As Eyal was saying, by the rest of the industry’s standards 8k is nothing, but for an extreme band like Behemoth to sell so many units first week is an accomplishment to be celebrated indeed.
57 CHICKENFOOT – CHICKENFOOT
This week: 8,446
Cume: 286,406
Still kinda flabbergasted this is selling so well — despite its all-star lineup — but on a recent trip through the Midwest I constantly heard “Oh Yeah” on the radio… so it makes sense.
73 WINDS OF PLAGUE – THE GREAT STONE WAR
This week: 6,336 (debut)
Not surprised this sold well, but I’m quite glad Behemoth did better. Score one for real metal. Sergeant D will no doubt be upset.
91 KILLSWITCH ENGAGE – KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
This week: 5,018
Cume: 117,953
At this point it’s got to be considered something of a flop, no? Roadrunner better pray they can squeeze a crossover single out of this one.
98 HALESTORM – HALESTORM
This week: 4,464
Cume: 67,234
Good band. Lzzy’s got serious pipes. Decent number for a brand new band.
161 AUGUST BURNS RED – CONSTELLATIONS
This week: 2,667
Cume: 38,777
Pretty good number for this band, I think? I don’t keep close enough tabs on the Christian metalcore community to really know.
162 SLIPKNOT – ALL HOPE IS GONE
This week: 2,658
Cume: 814,578
51 weeks on the charts. Wow. Score another platinum record for Slipknot pretty soon (although I’m sure they’re already claiming it “shipped platinum”… huge bullshit number hi-jacking the industry engages in when they’ve manufactured and shipped out 1 million units, regardless of whether that many eventually sell).
164 METALLICA – DEATH MAGNETIC
This week: 2,642
Cume: 1,810,699
If the same record were released under a name other than “Metallica,” I promise this album would not be nearly double-platinum and on the charts 49 weeks after release. Do not try and argue this point with me because you will be wrong.
190 ASSJACK – ASSJACK
This week: 2,242
Cume: 7,096
What happens when major labels dabble in heavy music.
197 DREAM THEATER – BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS
This week: 2,178
Cume: 72,900
The Dream Theater formula: write and record, pump out album, sell 100,000 records. Done! Works every time.
-VN
Halestorm lacks screaming and the band was on tour with Staind and Saliva, so I expect at least a few comments talking about how they suck.
The fact that Halestorm only sold 600 less than KSE is pretty amazing. I think they’re getting a lot of radio play in places but that definitely doesn’t bode well for KSE.
I wouldn’t write off KSE’s album just yet. As Daylight Dies did sell more after 7 weeks but that was released right before Christmas when sales are higher. The new album managed a virtually identical opening week to ADD. I still reckon it could become their 3rd Gold selling album within the next 3 years.
They have 2 already? Really?
yeah, there’s plenty of people in America with horrible musical taste. You’d be suprised.
yep looked it up on riaa 2 gold albums
Agreed. that’s Halestorm’s debut so they get a little leeway. KSE is past that point. They have done what, 4 on RR. Label expectations are higher for them. As for Chickenfoot, dumb articles about them on metal sites help to shift units. duh. I rememeber a Soundscan on a Krisiun album a few years ago. CM put it in their email. I was like, man I’d keep that shit secret. It was 313 units.
“190 ASSJACK – ASSJACK
This week: 2,242
Cume: 7,096
What happens when major labels dabble in heavy music.
No this is what happens when a major label head honcho acts like a jackass for years and the artist says screw it and releases bootlegs and sells them himself very successfully for x number of years then said major label decides to dable in heavy music after most of the core fan base of said artist has already been listening to the dabbled upon recordings for years,didnt help that said record label honcho stood by and watched the music industry slowly get dumped on its head while acting like a stubborn ass at the same time before releasing said dabbled in heavy music.
still 7000 records is pretty terrible. if that cd was a film it’d be yanked out of theaters and heading towards dvd land. or in the case, the clearance rack.
You’re right…if you’re a band and you sell 7000 under a label, you’ll be in the hole about 23K after recording, personal, promotional and other expenses.
Is Curb a major?
Glad I could help out Behemoth attain that chart position. Had never heard there stuff before but took a chance and bought the CD online. Glad I did. Awesome CD.
Same here, hadn’t heard their stuff but went out on a limb since it got a good review from Metal Injection. Definately worth it.
Please make these SoundScan reports a weekly thing. I love them.
And that was serious, not sarcastic; this shit’s fascinating.
The new Behemoth is amazing. I haven’t stopped listening to it since I got it last week. Truly epic. Had I been one of those guys, though, I would have tracked down whoever leaked the album online and chewed their freaking face off. People suck. I loved getting the CD, holding it my hands, and cruising the artwork and history lessons/religious studies/philology notes (sorry, I meant LINER NOTES) while I blasted the album at top volume from start to finish. The people who didn’t bother to wait don’t know what they’re missing and that’s their loss, but it’ll also be mine if the band can’t afford to record their next album because this one didn’t sell what it should have.
YAY, Behemoth!
Vinyl is the way to go if you enjoy having the physical product in your hand. Cd’s pain in comparrison, everything is the size of a postage stamp. There is nothing like looking through one of your favorite albums artwork while it spins on your record player.
Cds suck.
Fuck yeah Shinaain, good to see there are some other old schoolers like me that actually like to read the lyrics (and how great are the pictures and Nergal’s writings in the liner notes)…
Some of my earliest memories are trying to figure out how to switch tracks on my Kaboose Kids 8-track….
But seriously, vinyl hasn’t lost it’s mystique for me, but my deck has crapped out on me and it would be more expensive for me to replace the one I have than to buy a new one.(Still not an inconsiderable expense, by the way.) It’s on my list of things to do, but still lower on my list of priorities.
LINER NOTES: I’m old-school. Bitch out, and I won’t respect you. With the last one, Nergal took poll position. School me, please!
Beautiful…
I agree. GWAR’s new album will be charting next week. I’d love to see you guys write up about it. And how about giving us some updates on stuff that’s no longer on the Billboard 200 like LOG, Mastodon etc?
Yeah man, how much did Crack the Skye sell?
if behemoth released their new album worldwide at the same time, then there would have been no leak. its always going to leak if they release it on this day then in america on that day. but either way i bought the album at mayhem fest and got it signed :D
Albums are released on different days in different parts of the world, just as movies are.
That’s a reasonable theory, except for the fact that the album still leaked a week or more before either release date. And people still suck.
Did you suck them off too?
Suicide Silence, DevilDriver, JFAC – In the Billboard Top 200, but not here. I think it would be interesting to compare the Billboard stuff to the pure Neilsen numbers.
(Though, Billboard is based from Neilsen data, apparently it is not only sales)
Vinnie, there is no arguing your Death Magnetic take (although, I do like the album – other than production value), however you’d have to admit you could say that about 1,000 albums (or books). How many albums sell based on the artist (books: author)?
As a fan of Killswitch Engage i was rather gutted when i heard the new album. The only decent song is “Never Again” the rest of the album sucks donkey dick and im not at all surprised that it is’nt doing as well as the label had hoped.
I’m starting to think there is a very small minority who actually like the new album. I’m definitely a part of it. There are a few songs I could do without, but I still listen to them. I think getting someone else besides Adam to produce it was a good thing and a bad thing. I just hope he goes back to producing it though.
I bought the new Killswitch on release day and was so disappointed I haven’t listened to it since. Saw them at Mayhem Fest in Dallas and live show was very good. Adam does need to work on his moronic stage banter though. Behemoth was brilliant. Nergal is a God.
“I bought the new Killswitch on release day ”
Anything you said after this is moot. Your metal-cred is gone if it was ever there.
I love the sales updates. Please keep this a weekly thing.
Thanks, Patrick
“ugly men vs. hot chick”
OK, so Nergal and Orion are probably the only two really good looking men in metal. friends of mine who don’t even know who Behemoth is drool all over them. Ironic that they wear corpsepaint, huh?
don’t believe me? go here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=420036&id=1553048384
’nuff said.
I was going to go there, but then I bitched out. Props to you. \m/
all props to Behemoth, they put out a killer album. But then again, they always put out killer albums.
WINDS OF PLAGUE OWNS EVERY BAND ON THIS
i was sitting here, trying to think of all the clever ways to point out how wrong you are, but i think i’m gonna just take the low road and just you you’re a fucking moron instead.
I think the over 2k difference in record sales says enough.
Winds won’t even be a band in 2 years when this trend dies
got my copy of behemoths at a german festival called party san open air. fucking screamed of happiness when i saw it had been released and could be bought at the festival xD 17 euros i paid and that was the most expensive thing i bought there ! best album from those polish guys ever!
Nice to see Behemoth doing so well. The new album is excellent.
Thrice
FUCK YEAH!
Please keep this as a weekly feature! I think we all enjoy seeing the list because we all want to see metal do well–even if we trash half the bands mentioned!
“If the same record were released under a name other than “Metallica,” I promise this album would not be nearly double-platinum and on the charts 49 weeks after release.”
Agreed. I’ve been saying that since this album came out. The only selling point is the name on front, cause the music aint that great.
any self-respecting metal fan wouldn’t waste their time with this new-age mallgoth bullshit. It’s bands like these that soiled the hard work of what Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Possessed, and so spent years to make.
It would sure help if people started buying Suffocation and Possessed records again. Old school fans can bitch all they want, but it won’t make a difference until they can move units, plain and simple. I’m not disagreeing with you here, but it’s simply numbers.
All the olds school fans have already bought the Possessed records. They haven’t made a new one in almost 2 decades!!! How the fuck are they supposed to ‘move units’ ???
But also consider the more underground the band, the less SoundScan will matter because smaller indie stores usually don’t report. While Winds may have made most of their sales at SoundScanning Hot Topic, bands like Krisiun or Suffo make more sales in indie shops. So the ‘real’ number for those bands is much higher, but probably not much higher on Lacuna Coil or Iwrestled, etc.
I don’t get it….you guys (rightfully) talk shit about WOP saying that they aren’t ‘real metal’ (which is true), yet you interview them and talk about them all the time.
Not surprised this sold well, but I’m quite glad Behemoth did better. Score one for real metal. Sergeant D will no doubt be upset.
Guilty as charged!
id like to see updated numbers of these two…see how far the spread is now.