Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.

We have our first debut of 2015! And it’s weirdly appropriate that the band in question is Babymetal. The band spend all last year building up an audience here in the good ol’ U.S. of A and eventually ended up reaching our shores. Now that the ball has begun to roll in sales, we’ll be seeing more debuts flood in. As always, you can check up with Chris Colgan to find out what’s headed our way as well at this Wikipedia page, though it’s not quite filled out yet. Enjoy, and go eat some chocolate.

Notable Debuts:

Babymetal, Live At Budokan – Red Night (Amuse) 620 sold

Babymetal score the first debut of the New Year with their new live album.

Notable Sales:

AC/DC, Rock or Bust (Columbia) #18, 11,625 sold

Just under 430,000 sold.

Foo Fighters, Sonic Highways (RCA) #31, 6,925 sold

A sonic drop of 38%.

I Prevail, Heart Vs. Mind (Self-Released) #39, 5,850 sold

Last week, the band’s debut EP was sitting on the Top New Artists charts selling under 1,000 copies. Now it’s here. Guess that “Blank Space” cover did them good after all.

Slipknot, .5: The Grey Chapter (Roadrunner) #56, 4,175 sold

This is in the same position as last week, only with a 30% drop.

In This Moment, Black Widow (Atlantic) #103, 2,650 sold

The song “Sexual Hallucination” features Brent Smith of Shinedown.

Various Artists, Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 6 (Fearless) #137, 2,050 sold

Why?

Five Finger Death Punch, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Vol. 1 (Prospect Park) #138, 2,000 sold

Remember how last week I said this would still be on the charts when the new one came out? Yeah, it’ll be here soon.

Godsmack, 1000hp (Universal Republic) #149, 1,725 sold

Flashback to summer last year when Sully Erna said the band almost broke up.

Linkin Park, The Hunting Party (Warner Bros.) #153, 1,700 sold

A slight drop of 6%.

Seether, Isolate & Medicate (The Bicycle Music Company) #154, 1,700 sold

Over 125,000 sold.

Black Veil Brides, Black Veil Brides (Republic) #166, 1,600 sold

Married to a 46% drop.

The Pretty Reckless, Going To Hell (Razor & Tie) #168, 1,575 sold

Over 140,000 copies sold.

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, World On Fire (Dik Hayd) #175, 1,500 sold

I can see for Myles and Myles and Myles and Myles and Myles OH YEAH.

Machine Head, Bloodstone & Diamonds (Nuclear Blast) #199, 1,350 sold

The band’s latest reappears on the charts just in time for their upcoming tour.

Amaranthe, Massive Addictive (Spinefarm) 450 sold

A not so massive 24% drop.

Rival Sons, Great Western Valkyrie (Earache) 310 sold

The smallest boost of 1%

Babymetal, Babymetal (VAP Japan) 270 sold

Not surprisingly, the release of Babymetal’s new live record has prompted this to reappear. It’s inching towards 17,000 sold, which is great for an album that’s only available digitally and is selling only from word of mouth.

Rings of Saturn, Lugan Ki En (Unique Leader) 270 sold

A drop of 7% has a familiar ring to it.

Texas Hippie Coalition, Ride On (10 Spot) 270 sold

This is a couple of weeks short of the 10,000 mark. Very solid for an independently-released labum.

Antemasque, Antemasque (Nadie Sound) 230 sold

This sold almost the same amount as last week.

Revocation, Deathless (Metal Blade) 220 sold

A drop of 14%.

Fugazi, First Demo (Dischord) 190 sold

This gets demo-ted by 42%.

King 810, Memoirs of a Murderer (Roadrunner) 180 sold

Streams are likely keeping this afloat.