And another year ends... (the metal way)

My contribution to Exclaim's Aggressive Tendencies Best of 2012 list has been up for a couple of weeks:

• Metal and Hardcore 2012: The Year of Doom
• Exclaim!'s Best Albums of 2012: Metal and Hardcore

And my words for Hellbound's best of the year lists should be online tomorrow.

But today is the day to reprise a KEEW holiday tradition: Best Metal (and other stuff I like) of Ten Years Ago (ie. 2002)!

It gets harder to remember 10 years ago each new year that goes by, but to the best of my knowledge, this is what I was digging in 2002:

1. Rapture - Songs for the Withering
2. Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness
3. Opeth - Deliverance
4. Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos
5. Sentenced - The Cold White Light
6. Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
7. Dark Tranquillity - Damage Done
8. Lacuna Coil - Comalies
9. Agalloch - The Mantle
10. Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors
11. Bloodbath - Resurrection Through Carnage
12. Daylight Dies - No Reply
13. Amon Amarth - Versus the World
14. In Flames - Reroute to Remain
15. Star One - Space Metal 
16. Pain - Nothing Remains the Same
17. Halford - Crucible
18. Into Eternity - Dead or Dreaming
19. Insomnium - In the Halls of Awaiting
20. Antimatter - Saviour
21. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
22. Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing
23. Mastodon - Remission
24. Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera
25. Covenant - Northern Light

Many apologies to any amazing releases I may have forgotten...