The Word Alive has their worst sales, chart debut to date

Arizona post-hardcore/metalcore band The Word Alive released their fifth studio album earlier this month and for the first time in their ten-year career, a new album by The Word Alive failed to land on the Billboard 200 (in fact, each of their previous records debuted in the Top 100). The new album, titled Violent Noise, sold roughly 2,400 copies in its first week, enough to put the album at No. 79 on the Top Album Sales chart, but not nearly enough to register on the Billboard 200 (a multi-metric chart whose factors include on-demand streaming). The Violent Noise sales tally pales in comparison to The Word Alive's previous albums, selling only a third of its predecessor, 2016's Dark Matter, which sold more than 7,000 copies in its debut week and bowed at No. 74 on the Billboard 200. In 2014, The Word Alive hit their chart and sales peak as Real landed at No. 33 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of nearly 10,000. Their sophomore album, Life Cycles (2012), had nearly identical sales numbers and debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard 200. The Word Alive's 2010 debut full-length, Deceiver, debuted at No. 97 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 4,700.