 The NWOBHM eventually found space in newspapers and music magazines other than Sounds , as journalists caught up with the " next big thing " happening in the UK . Melody Maker even published a weekly heavy metal chart based on record shop sales . Sounds ' publisher exploited his support of the movement to launch the first issue of Kerrang ! , a colour magazine directed by Geoff Barton devoted exclusively to hard rock and heavy metal , in June 1981 . Kerrang ! was an unexpected success and soon became the reference magazine for metalheads worldwide , followed shortly by the American Circus and Hit Parader , the German Metal Hammer and the British Metal Forces . The attention of international media meant more record sales and more world tours for NWOBHM bands , whose albums entered many foreign charts . Their attempts to climb the British charts culminated in Iron Maiden 's The Number of the Beast topping the UK Albums Chart on 10 April 1982 and staying at number 1 for two weeks . The album charted at number 33 in the US , where the band acquired a reputation as Devil @-@ worshippers due to the album cover 's depiction of a hellish scene . 
