Bring Me The Horizon might have lost out on the UK album chart crown by the narrowest of margins on Friday – but, globally speaking, their status as a heavyweight rock act is now confirmed.
The Sheffield band’s fifth studio album, That’s The Spirit, was released by Sony Music labels worldwide on Friday, September 11.
It was the band’s first released on a major label in the US, via Columbia, and was issued on RCA in other global territories including the UK.
The album sold 62,000 (equivalent) units in the US market – with 55,000 ‘real’ sales – to reach No.2 on the Billboard 200.
Those ‘real’ sales were enough to carry That’s The Spirit to No.1 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales Chart, which omits streaming numbers.
The US performance towered above That’s The Spirit’s predecessor, Sempiternal, which reached No.11 on the Billboard 200 when it was released via indie Epitaph in April 2013.
With just 27,522 first week sales in the US, Sempiternal shifted around half of That’s The Spirit’s numbers in its opening seven days.
BMTH head out on an 18-night tour of the US market in October (see inset).
“That’s the spirit has sold double the copies of its predecessor, sempiternal, in both the UK and US.”
In terms of sales figures and chart positions, big progress has also been made for the band in the UK market.
When Sempiternal was released on RCA two years ago, it sold just over 16,400 to reach No.3 on the Official Albums Chart.
That’s The Spirit has trounced that performance, selling 43,500 album equivalents last week – almost three times as much as its predecessor.
If it wasn’t for the large fanbase of Stereophonics, BMTH would have landed their first No.1: they were just 1,300 sales behind the Welsh band’s tally.
BMTH will be able to console themselves, however, with their third No.1 album in Australia, where That’s The Spirit has just triumphed over new records from Slayer (No.3) and Jarrd James (No.2) to take the crown.
Issued on RCA in the market, That’s The Spirit follows the Oz chart-topping exploits of Sempiternal (08/04/13) and predecessor There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret (18/10/2010).
There Is A Hell… reached No.13 on the UK chart and No.17 on the Billboard 200 when it was released.
That’s The Spirit has also proven a success story in the world’s third biggest music market, Germany.
It landed at No.6 on the German chart on Friday after a Top 5 midweek – a dramatic improvement on the No.22 chart performance recorded by Sempiternal in 2013.
Other standout global chart positions for That’s The Spirit include Sweden (No.3), Canada (No.2), New Zealand (No.2), Belgium (Flanders, No.5) and The Netherlands (No.5).
Bring Me The Horizon are signed to BMG for publishing, RCA/Sony for records and managed by Craig Jennings and Matt Ash at Raw Power.Music Business Worldwide
