NEILSTEIN SOUNDSCAM: FEELING NOTHING FOR CARNIFEX

No surprise, but Evanescence and Five Finger Death Punch nabbed the #1 and #2 spots on the Current Hard Music charts for the third week in a row. The rest of of the Top 10 isn’t much better; aside from Foo Fighters (#4) and Mastodon (#8), the lot is pretty disappointing. BUT, there were solid debuts from Carnifex, Russian Circles (!), Structures, Black Tusk, Junius and more. Those numbers after the jump.

12 CARNIFEX – UNTIL I FEEL NOTHING
Last week: 2,766 (debut)

I share the opinion expressed in MetalSucks’ own Kellhammer’s review of this record; it’s not horrible, but it’s not really good either… and ultimately I just don’t get what people find appealing about this band. The only explanation I can think of is that their fans are really young kids just getting into extreme metal who don’t know any better — can someone who’s been to a show of theirs confirm?

17 ICED EARTH – DYSTOPIA
Last week: 2,027
Cume: 8,310

The dreaded 60-70% Week 2 drop. But still, that the band will easily sell 10,000 records at this point in their career is pretty impressive. Maybe Century Media didn’t spend any money on it because they knew they didn’t have to; IE fans are loyal.

18 RUSSIAN CIRCLES – EMPROS
Last week: 1,982 (debut)

Holy crap, who saw that coming? Not that 2,000 units will wash this band over in gold, but I thought they were pretty obscure. In any case, this rules — the album is not only dramatic, but fantastic!

30 STRUCTURES – DIVIDED BY
Last time: 1,356

I went into seeing this band live at SXSW 2011 with an open mind. 10 seconds into their set, when the choreographed stage moves commenced, I closed up.

55 AIDEN – SOME KIND OF HATE
Last week: 751 (debut)

I thought this band was like really popular or something?

56 BLACK TUSK – SET THE DIAL
Last week: 796 (debut)

69 MOLOTOV SOLUTION – INSURRECTION
Last week: 587 (debut)

79 COUNTERPARTS – CURRENT WILL CARRY US
Last week: 526 (debut)

81 JUNIUS – REPORTS FROM THE THRESHOLD OF
Last week: 502 (debut)

Believe me, it’s all about their captivating live show. The records only make sense if you’ve seen them play.

97 INSOMNIUM – ONE FOR SORROW
Last week: 384
Cume: 1,458

It feels like more people are getting hip to this band thanks to their new deal with Century. These numbers don’t really show it, though.

-VN