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 preform 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 #26 - drum roll please...

#26 - FORBIDDEN - Omega Wave (Nuclear Blast)

Omega Wave, San Francisco Bay Area thrashers FORBIDDEN's fifth studio album after a 13-year recording hiatus, was released in late October by Nuclear Blast. It was recorded at Sonic Room/Audio Voyage Studios in Livermore, California, produced by Forbidden guitarist / songwriter Craig Locicero with Tim Narducci, and mixed by Sean Beavan (SLAYER, MARILYN MANSON, NINE INCH NAILS).

Locicero remarked recently about titling their long-awaited comeback album: “After a year of writing and a couple of months recording this son of a bitchin' album, we finally decided to call it Omega Wave. It certainly would have been easy to self-title it, but anyone who knows anything about Forbidden and our history understands that we spend a considerable amount of time thinking about these things. That's just what we do. Omega Wave seemed most fitting and it's one of the thrashiest songs on the record! An ‘omega wave’ is the feeling of impending doom that hangs over everyone in these difficult times, more so than any other era in history. Many feel that our time is almost up, partly because it has been written and predicted in almost every ancient society; also because most people can tell which way the wind is blowing, if you know what I mean. So the question is, is this all really happening by design or is it a self-fulfilled, man-made hysteria that we are creating by accepting it in our collective consciousness? Either way, it's a black wave of negative energy that exists to billions of people. That is the Omega Wave.”

Forbidden 2010 features:

Russ Anderson - vocals

Craig Locicero - guitar

Steve Smyth - guitar

Matt Camacho - bass

Mark Hernandez - drums

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)