The 2023 Metal Album With the Most Spotify Streams (It’s Not Metallica!)

Can you believe that the 2023 metal album with the most Spotify streams isn't 72 Seasons by Metallica? It's actually by a newer artist who dropped their third album last year and went completely and utterly viral, positioning themselves as one of the next premiere acts in heavy music.

When it comes to setting records or leading statistics, it's usually a fair assumption that Metallica are going to dominate whatever the category is. Not only are they the biggest metal band there has ever been and likely will ever be, they're among the most successful artists in all of music history.

And while the metal giants enjoyed another banner year in 2023 with a well-received album and already historic "No Repeat Weekend" world tour, they were not the only ones to have an exceptional year.

The rise of the mysterious Sleep Token, whose career has exploded with the release of Take Me Back to Eden, also dominated 2023. At one point, four out of their five pre-release singles occupied spots on Spotify's Viral 50 chart, which surely helped the band rack up streams and quickly.

Rather than this being any sort of perceived downslide for Metallica (don't make us laugh), it more so points to the health of today's metal scene as we continue to look for and identify our future headliners once our elder heroes do finally retire.

Below, we've rounded up the streaming totals for each song on 72 Seasons and Take Me Back to Eden, as well as the grand totals for both records and the average number of streams the album earns each day since the respective records came out.

Spotify's Age Demographics + Things to Consider

One thing to keep in mind is that Spotify statistics do not tell the full story as fans may be more inclined to use other on-demand streaming platforms.

A May 2023 report by Tech Report indicates that users ranging from 18 to 35 years old make up 62 percent of Spotify users.

Metallica's multi-generational fanbase likely divides streaming potential between multiple services while there is also a fair chance that Sleep Token's overall age demographic skews younger and, therefore, more likely to use Spotify.

With a massive difference in monthly listener totals (a gap of about 21.5 million in favor of Metallica), it is incredibly difficult to pinpoint exactly how to interpret these numbers. They are, nonetheless, very interesting as we rarely see metal artists eclipse what Metallica have accomplished.

Metallica, 72 Seasons Spotify Streams (As of Jan. 8, 2023)

Monthly Listeners:

24,708,038

Album Release Date:

April, 14, 2023

First Single:

"Lux Aeterna" (Nov. 28, 2022)

Days Since Album Was Released:

269 days

Total Streams Per Song:

• "72 Seasons" — 25,930,539
• "Shadows Follow" — 15,825,280
• "Screaming Suicide" — 29,521,568
• "Sleepwalk My Life Away" — 11,211,820
• "You Must Burn!" — 10,249,585
• "Lux Aeterna" — 62,430,257
• "Crown of Barbed Wire" — 7,601,562
• "Chasing Light" — 7,330,307
• "If Darkness Had a Son" — 23,046,617
• "Too Far Gone?" — 14,861,313
• "Room of Mirrors" — 7,055,440
• "Inamorata" — 8,137,819

Total 72 Seasons Streams:

227,202,107

Average Total Streams Per Day Since Album Release:

844,618

READ MORE: See the 2023 Spotify Wrapped For over 50 of Your Favorite Rock + Metal Bands

Sleep Token, Take Me Back to Eden Spotify Streams (As of Jan. 8, 2023)

Monthly Listeners:

3,131,019

Album Release Date:

May 19, 2023

First Single:

"Chokehold" (Jan. 5, 2024)

Days Since Album Was Released:

234 days

Total Streams Per Song:

• "Chokehold" — 41,548,536
• "The Summoning" — 91,615,069
• "Granite" — 47,578,004
• "Aqua Regia" — 30,908,678
• "Vore" — 20,753,560
• "Ascensionism" — 18,260,983
• Are You Really Okay?" — 10,008,609
• "The Apparition" — 14,988,507
• "DYWTYLM" — 13,933,769
• "Rain" — 24,508,196
• "Take Me Back to Eden"  — 29,711,201
• "Euclid"  — 13,509,569

Total Take Me Back to Eden Spotify Streams:

357,324,681

Average Total Streams Per Day Since Album Release: 

1,527,029