Metallica and their new album 72 Seasons debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number two.
Per Billboard, the metal icons were prevented from a number-one debut by country singer Morgan Wallen. His album, One Thing at a Time, has held onto the top spot for a seventh consecutive week moving an additional 166,000 units.
As for Metallica, 72 Seasons moved 146,000 units making it ” … the largest week, by units, for any rock or hard rock album in over three-and-a-half years.” Of those 146,000 units, 134,000 of them came from physical album sales. It’s the first album from the band since their 1992 self-titled LP not to debut at number one.
The last rock album to move more units in its debut week was Tool’s 2019 album Fear Inoculum. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart moving 270,000 units. Physical album sales for Fear Inoculum were 248,000.