We've been counting down the finest slabs of metal from the last year, as chosen by the devout scribes here at BW&BK;/BraveWords.com. As with previous years, each writer was asked to pick his top 20 albums of the year (no live records, compilations or covers etc...). We perform a little behind-the-scenes metal math and voila, we have our list! We'll be counting down the Top 30 all month - yup, one a day until we get to New Year's - yes, we're aware that December has 31 daze but we thought we'd let you hang until January 1st!

So now we've reached the much-anticipated TOP TEN! Drum roll please...

#10 - KYLESA - Spiral Shadow (Season Of Mist)

Much celebrated psych-rock co-ed Georgians KYLESA released their new album, Spiral Shadow in October. The band recorded the new album at the Jam Room in Columbia, SC earlier this summer with band member and renowned producer Phillip Cope (BARONESS, WITHERED) once again at the helm.

In his BraveWords.com review David Perri wrote: Since 2006’s Time Will Fuse Its Worth, Kylesa has proven itself to be the arbiter of underground cool, these Georgians understanding that metal and post-punk share a similar commonality once the rage wears off: melancholy. Investing its effort into creating the loud version of Manchester’s zeitgeist circa the early ‘80s, Kylesa has written and executed some of the best material of the last five years with the aforementioned Time Will Fuse Its Worth, last year’s Static Tensions and now the ultimate in distortion-meets-emptiness, Spiral Shadow. Though adhering to the record-on-fire principles that guided its previous two albums, Spiral Shadow deviates slightly and enters into genuinely Pink Floyd (circa Wish You Were Here and Animals) territory...

Read the entire review here.

Brave Picks Top 30 Of 2010

#30 - STONE SOUR: Audio Secrecy (Roadrunner)

#29 - APOCALYPTICA - 7th Symphony (Sony)

#28 - TWILIGHT: Monument To Time End (Southern Lord)

#27 - HAIL OF BULLETS - On Divine Winds (Metal Blade)

#26 - FORBIDDEN - Omega Wave (Nuclear Blast)

#25 - KROKUS - Hoodoo (Columbia)

#24 - AIRBOURNE - No Guts. No Glory. (Roadrunner)

#23 - SOILWORK - The Panic Broadcast (Nuclear Blast)

#22 - TRIPTYKON - Eparistera Daimones (Century Media)

#21 - DARKTHRONE - Circle The Wagons (Peaceville)

#20 - NEVERMORE - The Obsidian Conspiracy (Century Media)

#19 - FOZZY - Chasing The Grail (Riot)

#18 - EXODUS - Exhibit B: The Human Condition (Nuclear Blast)

#17 - MISERY INDEX - Heirs To Thievery (Relapse)

#16 - ARMORED SAINT - La Raza (Metal Blade)

#15 - BLIND GUARDIAN - At The Edge Of Time (Nuclear Blast)

#14 - GAMMA RAY - To The Metal (earMusic)

#13 - MURDERDOLLS - Women And Children Last (Roadrunner)

#12 - RATT - Infestation (Loud & Proud/Roadrunner)

#11 - BLACK LABEL SOCIETY - Order Of The Black (E1)

#10 - KYLESA - Spiral Shadow (Season Of Mist)