We continue to count 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!

It's time for #14! Drum roll please...

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

The new GAMMA RAY album, To The Metal, was released in North America in March via a new deal between DisManic Distribution and Knife Fight Media and in Europe in January via earMUSIC/Edel. Gamma Ray members Kai Hansen (vocals/guitar), Dirk Schlächter (bass), Henjo Richter (guitar) and Daniel Zimmermann (drums) recorded a total of twelve new songs at their own studio in Hamburg in autumn 2009. Ten of them feature on the regular album release, and two additional bonus tracks can be heard on different editions of the album (seen above).

In his BraveWords.com review Mark Gromen wrote: So, think you know Gamma Ray? Yeah, it’s the decades old, Germanic power metal band founded by former Helloween guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen, which also spawned Primal Fear frontman Ralf Scheepers, but these eleven latest tracks attempt to downplay that pedigree, to some degree. Unlike many of their contemporaries they’ve steered clear of orchestral interference. No, they’ve not gone death/thrash/black or any other non-metallic offshoot, but this isn’t galloping rhythms end-to-end. Far from it...

Read the entire review here.

A video for the album's title track, 'To The Metal', directed by Ronald Matthes for Berlin, Germany’s Roax Films (NEVERMORE, MACHINE HEAD, SLIPKNOT), can be seen below:

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)