Not that we had any doubt Baroness’ Blue Record would have a strong debut, but it’s always nice to see the proof. And Skeletonwitch’s ripping new record Breathing the Fire had a great debut too; I’m elated to see the band sell as many records first week as they did. Elsewhere it was the usual radio rock / alt-metal suspects dominating the charts. Click through to see chart positions and sales figures.

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We haven’t done much writing about Rodrigo y Gabriella, the acoustic guitarist duo sweeping the metal world. But Metal Insider just posted this video of them jamming with Metallica’s Rob Trujillo, so, y’know. That seems maybe worth posting. I dunno. It’s kind of a slow news day.

So here they are doing “Orion”…

…and you can watch more video at Metal Insider.

-AR

Five heavy hitting heavy hitters — Alice in Chains, Hatebreed, Austrian Death Machine, Steel Panther and Dethklok — all released new records last week. Solid 2nd and 3rd week performances from Three Days Grace, Muse, Megadeth, Five Finger Death Punch and others made it an all-around big week for metal. Let’s see how everyone fared after the jump.

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