Katy Perry Metallica
[Photos via Metallica/Spotify, Katy Perry/Spotify]

Metallica and Katy Perry are battling for the top debut album spot

On Aug. 28, Metallica released their second live album collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony called S&M2. As well, Katy Perry debuted her sixth studio album Smile on the same day.

Now, new projections predict that Metallica’s latest LP could beat sales of Perry’s Smile this week.

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Since both albums were released less than a week ago, the official album sales for S&M2 and Smile are unknown. However, online trade publication HITS Daily Double predicts that Perry’s Smile may debut beneath Metallica’s S&M2.

According to the report, HITS Daily Double predicts that both S&M2 and Smile will sell between 50,000 – 60,000 digital copies. However, it’s estimated that Metallica will beat out Perry in physical album sales by around 8,000 copies.

If these predictions are correct, Metallica’s S&M2 will debut at No. 4 while Smile will come in at No. 5. This means that Metallica could have the top debut album. For now, we’ll have to wait and see if these predictions are correct on next week’s Hits Top 50 chart which closely mirrors the Billboard 200.

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Taylor Swift‘s surprise eighth studio album folklore is still continuing to dominate the charts. HITS Daily Double predicts that folklore will continue its reign on the charts for the sixth consecutive week. As well, Pop Smoke‘s posthumous LP Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon is anticipated to take the second spot.

Late rapper Juice WRLD‘s posthumous album Legends Never Die is expected to come in No.3. Following its release back in July, Legends Never Die debuted at No.1.

Although Metallica’s S&M2 isn’t expected to debut at No.1 overall, this is still a big feat for metal music. Based on the predictions, Metallica could be the only metal band to appear within the top 20 of the official albums chart next week.

Stream Metallica’s S&M2 below.

Do you want to see Metallica outsell Katy Perry for the top debut album spot? Let us know in the comments below.