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...

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

Option Paralysis was Dillinger Escape Plan's first release for their brand new label, Season Of Mist / Party Smasher Inc. The album, produced by Steve Evetts (THE USED, GLASSJAW, EVERY TIME I DIE), was released in March in the following formats: box set (limited to 2,000), digipack (with bonus track), jewelcase, digital download, vinyl (with bonus track and digital download card).

“This record actually seems to have more melody than any record we’ve ever done but it’s in a less typical way,” singer Greg Puciato told BW&BK.; “When we first started writing these songs we quickly realized we didn’t have any traditional poppy songs. We didn’t have a ‘Milk Lizard’ or a ‘Black Bubblegum’. So when we were listening to them instrumentally, before I put vocals on them, it seemed like it was going to be a less melodic record, just because there were no completely obvious radio songs or video songs.”

Read the entire interview here.

In his BraveWords.com review David Perri wrote: Yes, it's beyond weird to see Dillinger Escape Plan on a label other than Relapse and, in the interest of full disclosure, we'll admit that the Dillinger/Season Of Mist collaboration seems to make sense for no one, branding-wise (but, hey, we also weren't privy to the negotiation sessions). These New Jerseyites (and a Baltimorean) long ago shed the skin of their breakthrough, genre-creating effort Calculating Infinity and, through 2004’s Miss Machine and 2007’s Ire Works, displayed a penchant for spitting in the face of the conformity Calculating Infinity created, the band experimenting with glitchy electro, dynamic and even pure pop, all amidst the sense of urban decay chaos only Dillinger can bring. Option Paralysis sees the group continuing in the tradition of Miss Machine and Ire Works but, yet again, twists the paradigm: in its most abstract moments, Dillinger Escape Plan is now more caustic than ever...

Read more 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)