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 #17! Drum roll please...

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

Baltimore, MD’s MISERY INDEX released their follow-up album to 2008’s Traitors this past May. The band recorded with engineer Steve Wright at Wright Way Studios (DYING FETUS, SLIPKNOT, MOS DEF) just outside Baltimore, MD.

Misery Index singer Jason Netherton commented on the album’s lyrical theme: “The thread that binds several songs lyrically surrounds ideas of hidden history, how we interpret our nation, and our idea of who we are culturally and collectively, as it is generally handed down to us in terms of icons, wars, struggles and triumph.”

In his BraveWords.com review David Perri wrote: Just as it seems the band can’t possibly perfect its style in any further capacity, Misery Index decides to release another record and re-impress, yet again. Seriously, Heirs To Thievery is a wicked and uncompromising album, one that plays it invigorating, highly energetic and amazingly riff-oriented: there is nothing ambivalent nor indecisive here. In 2010, Misery Index has written and executed its finest record in Heirs To Thievery; that’s a claim that’s been made after each of the group’s releases, and it’s a testament to how capable Misery Index truly is.

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)