Death Metal and mass media

An oldie but a goodie. It’s good of Blabbermouth to report stuff like this, because although it’s not the fanboy stuff, it’s interesting:

The following are the total sales figures for several of the genre’s forerunners, according to Nielsen SoundScan (all numbers include any DVD and VHS releases, where applicable):

CANNIBAL CORPSE: 558,929
DEICIDE: 481,131
MORBID ANGEL: 445,147
SIX FEET UNDER: 370,660
OBITUARY: 368,616
DEATH: 368,184
NAPALM DEATH: 367,654
CARCASS: 220,734
ENTOMBED: 198,764

The top-selling death metal albums of the SoundScan era are as follows:

MORBID ANGEL – “Covenant” (1993): 127,154
DEICIDE – “Deicide” (1990): 110,719*
DEICIDE – “Legion” (1992): 103,544
OBITUARY – “The End Complete” (1992): 103,378
CANNIBAL CORPSE – “The Bleeding” (1994): 98,319

Blabbermouth

We forget now that these bands also were the first into stores, back in the time before 1997 when suddenly you could get obscure death metal in chain stores. During most of the early 1990s, the only things you’d find in regular record stores were the Roadrunner releases. I’m surprised “The End Complete” outsold “Cause of Death,” but it was a bit more musically refined in a conventional sense. Doubly amused that 18 years on, these are the only albums I still listen to from that list:

MORBID ANGEL – “Covenant” (1993): 127,154
DEICIDE – “Deicide” (1990): 110,719*
DEICIDE – “Legion” (1992): 103,544

0 thoughts on “Death Metal and mass media”

  1. Tufir Amaru Shakur says:

    the sales numbers roughly relate to the number of gadflies that try to sell us the same stuff over and over again

    once you got the message, you hang up the phone; look what fancy shirt decrepitaphs drummer wears in his spontaneous foto session

    this is where your money goes

    pretty much nowhere

  2. nig nog says:

    so many parents’ dollars wasted…

    lol @ u listening to mainstream shite

  3. Love Gojira says:

    Behemoth is great death black metal not metalcore you people and Gojira is technical death metal, you stupids obviously just crtizicing for no reason, go fuck your selfs dont know anything about great metal music. did you know shit comes out of anus? i think not you are not man or metal by writing stupidity in guestbook. this is a website for stupids!!

  4. nig nog says:

    I know, right? Here, check out this gread indie band called Gojir…

  5. Roy Ulver Fan 420 says:

    All these bands ripped off Death.

  6. cornfused says:

    Hey Adrian I thought you were in jail getting your butt pounded

  7. gayfags says:

    stop listening to metal of any sort and listen to Brainbombs, you pussies

  8. Kornmunchie says:

    the more they iterate, the greedier they get; shares get smaller, content deteriorates

    people realize, and get picky

    and call a piece of shit by name, should it stain their fingers

    others present their own turd like a rosy beloved newborn, even if it reeks like a dekaton of daimajin dung, expecting people to appreciate it – in fear of [i]laughter[i]: putting their lump into its right dimensions and pointing at the happy maggots. stink however isn’t easily expressed in numbers or can’t have a finger laid upon. it’s there first and many won’t even notice after a hearty mouthful; who’d admit they’d eaten shit to those who told them so?

  9. @Kornmunchie says:

    shut up

  10. Write me an opinion! says:

    How fucked is California’s economy? Is there hope?

  11. got no time for the real world says:

    Listen up people, complaining about websites that don’t affect my life is really important. I mean, the way these people do it is gay. Lightheartedly poking fun at something that’s value ultimately speaks for itself anyhow? LAME! You gotta waste all the time you could be spending forming substantial relationships waging NERDWAR!

  12. above user says:

    got trolled

  13. death sells, but who's dying? says:

    So am I the only one who notices that since 1994 there hasn’t been a top selling death metal album?

  14. not says:

    obviously

  15. I am says:

    A virgin

  16. drup says:

    It’s almost as if death metal was a passing fad that most people grew out of! whAOoaoa!

  17. RIGHT says:

    Less of this blog crap, more actual articles.

  18. Thierry says:

    Being penetrated by niggercock is morally superior to listening to some metal shit.

  19. The Observer says:

    If you read Choosing Death you’ll see the exact same picture forming from the insider stories of all these bands: that death metal was just another wave of angry kiddie music capitalized on by labels until they overshot their mark on the actual viability and popularity of music centered around grumbling like a retard into a mic. Morbid Angel, Carcass etc. were all on big-name labels who were optimistic about their future and then dropped like a fat chick at a wedding when they snapped out of their delusion and realized none of this “next big thing” would actually sell. Death metal was just the nu-metal of its time. Is it any surprise that Cannibal Corpse and Deicide, the bands most likely to irritate the ‘rents with their gore/satanic clownery are also the ones topping the charts? Kind of goes to show what kind of people listen to this music.

  20. ---- says:

    Thats basically a garbage argument. You could cite speed metal or trash metal with the sample sort of logic.

  21. #the observer says:

    decent troll 6/10

  22. Morbid Anal says:

    Don’t believe me? Read the book, kids, if you really have an interest in the genre and want to know about its history instead of listening to a bunch of MP3s without context.

    http://www.amazon.com/Choosing-Death-Improbable-History-Grindcore/dp/193259504X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299142193&sr=8-1

  23. nigs says:

    “Doubly amused that 18 years on, these are the only albums I still listen to from that list:”

    The “only” albums? That’s like 3 out of 5, dude. You’re a fucking idiot. Enjoy amusing yourself like a tard.

  24. 7/10 says:

    @ #the observer

    Alright, yes, pretty fucking good troll.

    Better than that “negura_vonda” turd, who basically just makes a lot of mouth noise and excessive use of the word “faggot”. At least this butt-chap actually provides some evidence!

    bravo. Now excuse me, im going to listen to some Altars of Madness.

  25. grin says:

    >Better than that “negura_vonda” turd

    I have news for you..

    P.S. Here’s an article that perfectly encapsulates the condition of the anus.com “Hessian”, enjoy!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involuntary_celibacy

  26. nrgi says:

    p.s. grin is supposed 2 b an anagram for nigr

  27. grin is the title of the next BEHEERAIT says:

    Hail

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