The American metal band's new album 'Death Magnetic' sold 132,000 copies in the last seven days, a 61% drop on the previous week.

The band are only the second act to spent three weeks at number one on the US album chart this year. Jack Johnson achieved the same feat in February.

As previously reported, so far 'Death Magnetic' has topped album charts in 25 countries, including the UK and most of continental Europe.

Despite the album's strong sales, a number of fans have complained about its sound quality, suggesting that the CD version is “too loud”.

Yesterday, Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich responded to the critics and insisted that there was nothing wrong with the album.

(by Jason Gregory)