The “Top Hard Music” Chart I’ve been using for this column for the past couple of years is a mixed bag; on one hand, a lot of the “Top Hard Music” albums are really old albums that continue to sell (Metallica’s Black Album, various greatest hits collections, catalogue albums of whatever big band happens to be on tour at the time, etc) which paints a skewed picture of what I’m really interested in, namely the new stuff. On the other hand, it’s interesting to see how those older albums continue to sell.

I was recently alerted to the existence of a different chart, “Current Hard Music;” I’m not sure what the criteria is for what constitutes “Current” as some albums on this chart have been on for 90+ weeks and some artists are certainly not “current” by any means, but it does seem to paint a much better picture of the sales of newer albums. Without perrenial classics and greatest hits comps hogging up precious chart space, fewer units need to be sold for a band to get into the Top 100 on the “Current” chart. I am contemplating a move to focusing on that chart in the future. For now, I’ll stick with Top Hard Music with some added albums from the bottom of the other chart. What do you guys think?

Anyway, this week we’ve got big debuts from Pearl Jam and Opeth, big second week drops from a number of artists (Anthrax, Dream Theater and more) that still have pretty big sales numbers, and a look at some albums that came out earlier this year (Black Dahlia Murder, All Shall Perish, more).

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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:

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You will be happy to know that Limp Bizkit did not claim the #1 spot on the Top Hard Music charts again this week. That spot belongs to… Pop Evil. Who? Not Limp Bizkit, that’s who.

Aside from Unearth, there weren’t any notable debuts to chart last week. After the jump, a look at how the latest records from Black Dahlia Murder, In Flames, and many more fared on the marketplace of over-priced pieces of plastic and soon-to-be-obsolete digital files.

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Let’s give Axl Rosenberg a hearty golf clap for capably handling Neilstein Soundscam while I was away, shall we? But the party is over, so it’s back to the grind of boring albums selling soon-to-be insignificant pieces of plastic (and soon-to-be insignificant digital files once Spotify launches).

You should all be elated to learn that Limp Bizkit claimed the #1 spot on the Hard Music charts last week (#15 overall), so let’s all take a great big sigh of relief in knowing that good music reigns supreme.

I keed. Queensryche had a solid debut, while In Flames, Symphony X and The Black Dahlia Murder had decent second weeks despite large percentage drops. Check out the numbers for those and several others after the jump.

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Last Tuesday was a huuuuge week for new metal releases. Megadeth, Black Dahlia Murder, Shadows Fall, Living Colour, Dying Fetus, Porcupine Tree, Every Time I Die, Thrice and Ace Frehley all released new albums, and all charted in the Top 200! After the jump, let’s look at where they all ended up.

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Black Dahlia Murder, everyone’s favorite Michigan death metal doodz, will be releasing their first ever DVD Majesty on May 12th. As seems to be de rigeur these, you get not only one disc of awesomeness but two: Disc 1 features a documentary with ridiculous tour antics, live footage, and band interviews, and Disc 2 is a collection of full live tracks and official music videos. The bottom line: it’s Black fucking Dahlia fucking Murder, so you know it’s gonna be funny! If you like what you see from the exclusive preview clip below, you can pre-order the DVD set for a special pre-release price of $17.99 or order a limited edition DVD/t-shirt combo for only $26.99. Get on that!

[This exclusive has now ended.]

When The Black Dahlia Murder announced earlier this week that former Arsis guitarist Ryan Knight had been tapped to fill the role vacated by John Kempainen just three weeks ago, a simmering side-story went mostly ignored: apparently at some point Ryan Knight decided to leave Arsis. WTF? Totally missed that announcement, unless the Black Dahlia announcement was meant to kill two birds with one stone.

The news officially elevates Arsis to new levels of the “ex-members of” department, rivaling only L.A. Guns and Guns N’ Roses in that vaunted arena; a game of “six degrees of Arsis” would make for some mighty fine death metal campfire chatter. The departure of Knight also marks the departure of Arsis’ 597th member, so we figured we’d reach Ryan via phone* to comment on the situation**:

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Shortly after the band finished their mind-bending set opening for The Black Dahlia Murder, Testament and Children of Bodom at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom, I had the chance to talk with Between the Buried and Me singer Tommy Rogers and bassist Dan Briggs. The guys spoke about the band’s new DVD Colors Live, their rigorous touring schedule in support of Colors, sharing the stage with their heroes in Dream Theater on the summer’s Prog Nation tour, and what the next Between the Buried and Me record is going to sound like. The full interview transcript, after the jump.

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After fellating Protest the Hero’s incredible early-2008 release Fortress for two months solid (culminating in my first ever 5 of 5 horns review), I was immediately let down by successive announcements that the band would be touring with shit emo bands through the entire summer. Finally someone in the band’s camp has come to their senses and packaged them with a lineup that will put them in front of the metal audience that NEEDS to know about this band. And finally, I will be able to go see them live. Lambgoat is reporting a fall tour with Protest playing direct support for Unearth, with The Acacia Strain, Whitechapel and Gwen Stacy also on the bill.

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Summer Slaughter Tour Terrorizes Texas on Independence Day

One problem with being an Old Fart in the metal scene is that you have to do Old Farty kind of things, like celebrating 4th of July with your family and friends. The problem arises when said celebration coincides with one of the biggest concerts of the year – the Summer Slaughter Tour.

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For their Metal Blade debut A Consequence of Design, the six Minneapolis, Minnesota-based lads of Epicurean venture down a well-worn path of American metal but inject a more distinctly European metal feel than most of their American counterparts, making for a record that could be predictable but ends up being more enjoyable than you’d expect.

Keyboards are often at the front of the mix or not far behind it, adding a decidedly European flavor to their blend of thrash, hardcore and NWOBHM-style guitar melodies. Epicurean’s songwriting is their strongsuit; the tunes on A Consequence of Design usually clock in between the 5 and 7 minute marks and meander in such a way that strikes the right balance of familiarity and unpredictability.

When Jared Schneider’s keyboards aren’t doing the talking John Major and Jared Mills’ guitars are, sometimes separately but often together. Gothenburg-style harmonies and melodies dominate the melodic but heavy up-tempo songs beneath John Gensmer’s bombastic, triggered, enormous-sounding drums. The production is huge and also very European in nature, calling to mind the fists-to-the-sky power metal of MetalSucks faves Mercenary. But John Laramy’s vocal approach is decidedly more hardcore in nature, in closer keeping with most bands this side of the pond. Laramy does an adequate job on the screamed parts in the verses, but the choruses are unfortunately a tad predictable with his clean sung vocals often doused in a heavy helping of auto-tune/vocoder as in “Behind the Chapel Walls” and “Lithograph.” Nevertheless the guitarists do a fine job displaying their technical prowess when called upon, shredding and sweep-picking with the best of ‘em. Together with Schneider’s keyboards they create a sonic stew that’s an interesting mix of new and classical metal (the bass meanwhile is right where it always is these days, buried deep beneath everything else). “Illumination” is a highlight, a track darker in tone than most that showcases the best elements of Epicurean’s sound. The Slash-esque guitar solo of “Anathema: The Gate Keeper” is also a winner that stands out.

A Consequence of Design isn’t going to shatter barriers for Epicurean, but it could put them on the radar in a crowded genre; I can see them going over well amongst the Black Dahlia Murder crowd. While this album may not propel them into the stratosphere, it shows that the band members certainly have the potential to develop their sound into something that will set them apart from the pack if they’re willing to take some risks.

-VN

(two and a half out of five horns)

[Epicurean on MySpace]

Yesterday evening a press release arrived at the MetalSucks Mansion that looked a little something this this:

MetalBlade Records act The Black Dahlia Murder — (sweet, those guys are cool, what are they up to?) — is both Zune’s… — and then I stopped reading. Seriously, someone is actually doing a promotion with that piece of useless crap? After the jump, the rest of the press release in bold, with our own commentary, natch, in plain text.

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