10.) Yaotl Mictlan's Dentro del Manto Gris de Chaac – This Mexican heavy metal outfit has been turning heads since their ambitious 2006 full-length debut Guerreros De La Tierra De Los Muertos. Prideful of their heritage, Yaotl Mictlan has pursued their ancestral roots with a startling mix of grim heavy metal and Aztec instruments. Unlike their first release, Dentro del Manto Gris de Chaac has a similar running time but no sense of bloating. This better musicianship has honed the band's purpose, and Yaotl Mictlan have granted listeners one of the year's wildest, most manic releases. www.myspace.com/yaotlmictlan

9.) Arsis' Starve for the Devil – Arsis' latest is ironically titled given there's nothing lean about it. The order of the day is bombastic, arena-ready metal, played with absurd complexity and diabolical catchiness. Music nuts will stay for the shredding, extremists for the speed and everyone else for the sing-alongs. This isn't the absolute best album of 2010, but it might be the most fun. www.myspace.com/arsis

8.) Hail of Bullets' On Divine Winds – Hail of Bullets has solidified a death metal supergroup lineup, making expectations for their successive efforts increasingly high. On Divine Winds blows such anticipation out of the water, delivering aural assaults one after the other. A concept album about WWII's Pacific Theater, its mix of heaviness and history makes it as intellectual as it is invigorating. It's a potent combination, worthy of its place in the ranks of this year's best despite serving as Hail of Bullets' sophomore album. www.myspace.com/hailoff***enbullets

7.) Darkthrone's Circle the Wagons – Nothing remains safe from this Norwegian duo even after 23 years of rattling skulls. Circle the Wagons attacks everything – religion, government, labor and even heavy metal itself – with the same icy nihilism that has always been the band's battle scar. It also perfects the pair's transition into crusty, evil-sounding punk metal begun with their 2007 record F.O.A.D. Fast and furious, this raw and ripping album is the perfect soundtrack for a drive down the highway to Hell. www.myspace.com/officialdarkthrone

6.) Enslaved's Axioma Ethica Odini – Much like their fellow Norsemen Darkthrone, Enslaved began with black metal and morphed into something more. Unlike Darkthrone, Enslaved's new album dabbles not in punk but progressive rock. Sleek and shiny, its climatic battles between keyboards and guitar strings often end in chilling catharsis. By the time it's finished, listeners won't have realized Axioma Ethica Odini has taken them – and Enslaved – to dazzling new heights. www.myspace.com/enslaved

5.) Carach Angren's Death Came Through a Phantom Ship – It's fitting Death Came Through a Phantom Ship contains recurring maritime imagery like shipwrecks and storms. Carach Angren has invaded the symphonic black metal arena with aplomb, their sophomore effort sharpening the genre's teeth for the first time in ages. Epic and engrossing, it regales listeners with a macabre retelling of the Flying Dutchman ghost story. It's smooth sailing for fans old and new, an orchestral masterpiece manned by true captains of their craft. www.myspace.com/carachangren

4.) Rotting Christ's Aealo – These hard-hitting Greeks have toiled for over two decades. Despite this, Aealo is an aggressive but memorable mix of death metal and operatic overtures, an Athenian war choir for the modern age. For every slamming riff, there's a searing melody or soaring orchestral effect worth hearing as well. It's a fitting soundtrack for a people who gave us the 300 Spartans and their battle at Thermopylae. www.myspace.com/rottingchristabyss

3.) Deathspell Omega's Paracletus – Paracletus is less an album and more the feverish, frenzied beating of the heart of darkness. There's a stark finality to it, maybe because Deathspell Omega have at last dominated their muse or maybe as it marks the end of a trilogy examining God, Satan and Man. Either way, this is a divisive release which blasphemes as often against musical propriety as it does religious piety. Inhuman in its execution, it's an album not for the weak of stomach, as where it comes from the sun doesn't shine. www.myspace.com/deathspellomega

2.) Agalloch's Marrow of the Spirit – Marrow of the Spirit is resounding evidence that heavy metal can exhibit beauty rivaling that of anything else. It's a breathtaking experience, exhilarating in its affirmation of life and its majesty. The band's template of stark yet stunning music remains, only in a darker shade than ever before. There comes a point where words fail in the face of wonder, and this is it. www.myspace.com/agalloch

1.) Negura Bunget's Maiestrit and Virstele Pamintului – Fans were shocked when this revered Romanian group called it quits in 2009, leaving behind an artistic journey still at its peak with 2006's Om. Their swansong was this year's Maiestrit, a sprawling and cinematic reinterpretation of 2000's Maiastru Sfetnic. Resurrected by sole original member (and drummer) Negru, Negura Bunget struck again, dropping Virstele Pamintului not long after Maiestrit. The kicker: both are works of brilliance, expertly mixing the folk music of Negura Bunget's native land with blistering, high-caliber black metal. No one else topped these Transylvanians in 2010. www.myspace.com/negurabunget

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