Metallica's first-week US sales total for its 1991 album, commonly called The Black Album, was 598,000 copies.
This figure helped the self-titled record become the band's first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. It arrived after years of growth from a respected underground thrash-metal act into an internationally prominent heavy-metal band.
The album's marketing combined several high-impact songs with a major touring campaign. “Enter Sandman” established the record's new sound, while “The Unforgiven,” “Nothing Else Matters,” “Wherever I May Roam,” and “Sad but True” extended its reach across radio, video, and live performance.
The number should not be confused with later sales totals. Metallica eventually sold more than 16 million copies in the United States during the SoundScan era and more than 30 million worldwide on physical media, according to figures cited for the album. The first-week figure is specifically the initial US sales result, not a certification level or lifetime total.