Can you sense the excitement in the air? It's been a long, long month of glorious heavy metal and we are nearly at #1 (which will be unveiled on January 1st). Geez, most our top ten are #1 albums in their own right, 2010 being a banner year for music, remarkable given the state of the biz these days. But the drive to create lives and breathes in the ugly underbelly of the scene we all call home. So without further adieu, may we introduce the #2 Brave Pick Of 2010. Drum roll please...

#2 - ENSLAVED - Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast)

Possibly no other band holds the future of heavy metal in the palm of their hands as do rising Norwegian stars ENSLAVED. With each magnum opus their dark shadow pushes the boundaries of the genre with exciting and stupefying results.

The follow-up to 2008’s Vertebrae (BW&BK;'s Brave Pick #4 in 2008), Axioma Ethica Odini is Enslaved's eleventh studio album which was elegantly recorded at three different studios in Bergen, Norway: 1) Duper; 2) Earshot (belonging to Enslaved members Herbrand Larsen (keyboardist/backing vocalist) and Ice Dale (lead guitarist); and 3) Peersonal Sound (owned by rhythm guitarist/songwriter Ivar Bjørnson).

The results speak for themselves - Enslaved are way beyond the over-used prog term, failing to tread the path of the previous, instead creating futuristic soundscapes of space-age satisfaction. Enslaved are a picture-perfect, mirror-image of life, complete with its polished highs, doleful lows and all stark realities in between.

In his BraveWords.com review David Perri wrote: There’s one key element about Enslaved that it’s time we, collectively, understood: Enslaved is now fully ensconced as a prog band. Sure, that’s been evident for almost a decade, but Axioma Ethica Odini might be the first Enslaved record to blatantly declare, “Yes, Enslaved is Norwegian. Yes, Enslaved has connections to the early ‘90s Dark Circle. But, fuck, does Enslaved love Gentle Giant.”

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)

#9 - FEAR FACTORY - Mechanize (Candlelight)

#8 - IHSAHN - After (Candlelight)

#7 - DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - Option Paralysis (Party Smasher/Season Of Mist)

#6 - IRON MAIDEN - The Final Frontier (EMI)

#5 - NACHTMYSTIUM - Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II (Century Media)

#4 - GRAND MAGUS - Hammer Of The North (Roadrunner)

#3 - OVERKILL - Ironbound (Nuclear Blast)

#2 - ENSLAVED - Axioma Ethica Odini (Nuclear Blast)