Metallica rock album chart in US

Metallica embark on an extensive tour of North America later this year

Rock band Metallica have topped the US album chart with their latest release Death Magnetic - despite it being on sale for less than a week.

According to Billboard magazine, the group's first studio album since 2003 has sold 490,000 copies since Friday.

St Anger, the band's last studio disc, sold 418,000 copies in its first week of release in the US in 2003.

Death Magnetic's UK release was brought forward last week after some retailers broke the sales embargo.

The band were in London on Tuesday to perform alongside Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on BBC TV show Later... with Jools Holland.

An extended version of the programme can be seen this Friday on BBC Two at 2335 BST.