The year-end “best of” lists have already started to appear. Here are some lists of the best metal albums of 2010 from a few trusted sources:

– The AV Club’s Leonard Pierce offers his picks here.

– Phil Freeman has a top 40(!) (parts 1, 2, 3, and 4) list as well as an entertaining 10 worst metal albums of the year at his blog, Headbang.

– PopMatters’ Adrien Begrand’s list is here.

I’ll probably post on my favorite albums of the year (not “the best” necessarily; I’m not a music critic) in a couple of weeks.