2010

Twenty-ten was a year of disasters and gadgets. Haiti and Chile were hit by earthquakes, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, and Icelandic volcanic ash grounded flights across northern and western Europe. Meanwhile the first iPad went on sale, and in Britain an election produced a hung parliament and a coalition government.

In rock and metal, the old guard kept busy while the 1990s crowd returned. Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns took the band into electronic, pop-tinged territory, while Deftones came back with Diamond Eyes. Iron Maiden delivered The Final Frontier, Ozzy Osbourne released Scream, and Korn went back to basics with Korn III: Remember Who You Are. Weezer put out two records, Hurley and Death to False Metal. Reunions were everywhere: Soundgarden got back together, with the Telephantasm compilation to match, and Anthrax welcomed back Joey Belladonna. At Sonisphere in Warsaw on 16 June, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica shared a stage for the first time as the Big Four of thrash, and Anthrax's Sofia show later appeared as a concert film. AC/DC headlined Download, back at Donington for the first time since 1991.

The year had a heavy toll. Type O Negative's Peter Steele died in April, Ronnie James Dio in May, and Slipknot's Paul Gray later that month; Heaven & Hell ended with Dio. Mike Portnoy left Dream Theater in September after 25 years, having already stepped in for Avenged Sevenfold after the death of The Rev. Behemoth's Nergal went into hospital with leukaemia and had a bone marrow transplant, and In Flames lost founding member Jesper Strömblad.