These Were the 22 Highest-Selling Metal Albums of 2016

Metallica had six of last year’s twenty-two highest-selling metal albums. Which is kind of amazing, given that they only released one new album in 2016.

Of course, such is the state of the modern music business. Just as depressing, if unsurprising: only eight of the twenty-two releases came out in 2016… and Hardwired was the year’s best-selling metal album, despite coming out in mid-November. Even given several months’ head start, many of metal’s biggest bands simply could not compete. The second-best selling release of the year that actually came out during the year was Megadeth’s Dystopia, and that was still outsold by a good portion of Metallica’s back catalogue. I’m sure Dave Mustaine is thrilled.

Also, I legit had no idea Pierce the Veil were so popular. Wow.

You can check out the list of 2016’s twenty-two highest-selling metal albums below, courtesy of Metal Insider. Full disclosure: I removed a couple of their entries for being “not metal enough” (e.g., Bon Jovi, Journey, etc.), so you might wanna head over there to see what else made the cut. They’ve also got some good analysis regarding each album’s sales as well.

1. Metallica, Hardwired… To Self Destruct (Blackened Recordings)
   516,000 sold
2. Disturbed, Immortalized (Reprise)
   298,000 sold
3. Metallica, Metallica (Blackened Recordings)
   267,500 sold
4. Metallica, Master of Puppets (Blackened Recordings)
   163,000 sold
5. Metallica, …And Justice For All (Blackened Recordings)
   155,000 sold
6. Metallica, Ride the Lightning (Blackened Recordings)
   153,000 sold
7. Megadeth, Dystopia (Tradecraft/uME)
   148,000 sold
8. Five Finger Death Punch, Got Your Six (Prospect Park)
   146,500 sold
9. Avenged Sevenfold, The Stage (Capitol)
   144,000 sold
10. Guns N’ Roses, Greatest Hits (Interscope/Geffen)
    138,000 sold
11. Deftones, Gore (Reprise)
    133,000 sold
12. Skillet, Unleashed (Atlantic)
    123,500 sold
13. Volbeat, Seal the Deal & Lets Boogie (Republic)
    123,000 sold
14. AC/DC, Back in Black (Columbia)
    117,000 sold
15. Guns N’ Roses, Appetite For Destruction (Interscope/Geffen)
    115,000 sold
16. Nirvana, Nevermind (Interscope/DGC)
    114,000 sold
17. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Ghosts of Christmas Eve (Atlantic)
    113,000 sold
18. Shinedown, Threat to Survival (Atlantic)
    110,000 sold
19. Pierce the Veil, Misadventures (Fearless)
    105,000 sold
20. Metallica, Kill ’em All (Blackened Recordings)
    104,000 sold
21. A Day To Remember, Bad Vibrations (ADTR)
    102,000 sold
22. Korn, The Serenity of Suffering (Roadrunner)
    100,000 sold