My current top 10 would look like this:
10. Kalmah - They Will Return
9. Opeth - Deliverance
8. Beyond The Embrace - Against The Elements
7. Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines
6. Arch Enemy - Wages Of Sin (technically a 2001 album, but its worldwide release wasn't until March 2002)
5. Thyrfing - Vansinnesvisor
4. Symphony X - The Odyssey
3. Vader - Revelations
2. Satyricon - Volcano
1. Dark Tranquillity - Damage Done
There's still a couple I haven't heard yet, most especially the new Bathory, Novembers Doom, Bloodbath, Rotting Christ & especially Amon Amarth, which won't be available to me until probably early 2003.