By now you've seen all those top ten rock and metal lists featuring Metallica, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Gojira, Nachtmystium, Enslaved, Opeth, Amon Amarth, All That Remains, Trivium, Meshuggah et al. So here's a list of ten slightly more indie acts that might not be on your radar yet, but which you owe it to yourself to check out:

10. Arsis - We Are the Nightmare (Nuclear Blast)
Technical death metal is rarely this inspiring. A breathtaking blend of speedy unconventional guitar work, abrupt rhythm shifts, double-bass drum thunder and real honest to goodness hooks.

9. These Arms Are Snakes - Tail Swallower and Dove (Suicide Squeeze)
Post-hardcore insanity merges with strong songwriting on this Seattle band's third full album. Direct and uncompromising, TS&D blasts through challenging math rock progressions, battering ram rhythms and bizarre grooves that'll remind you equally of Fugazi and Blood Brothers. But what else would you expect from former members of Botch and Kill Sadie?

8. Abigail Williams - In The Shadow of a Thousand Suns (Candlelight)
Honestly, we're not sure why this modern black metal album didn't crack more critics' year-end lists. The band even has a super-cute chick on piano/orchestration -- and the girl knows how to compose better than a lot of classical musicians. In The Shadow of a Thousand Suns is epic, brutal and shudders with horrific beauty -- like a haunting blend of Cradle of Filth and Immortal. (Click "more" to see our seven other choices.) Read more...

Yeah, we know Unearth's new album, The March, is coming out October 14 and it's a pretty strong record, but right now we're far more stoked about the new Earthless double disc, Live at Roadburn, an offering that definitively conveys the breathtaking spontaneity and headspinning grandeur of this San Diego droner-metal band.

A stuporgroup composed of guitarist Isaiah Mitchell (Nebula, Drunk Horse), bassist Mike Eginton (Electric Nazarene) and drummer Mario Rubalcaba (ex-Rocket From the Crypt, Hot Snakes, Blackheart Procession), Earthless play transcendent, apocalyptic, riff-rock that flows, bubbles and burns like rivers of magma through dense forestland. Touch points are Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Tab-era Monster Magnet, Sleep, Loop, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, and unlike many stoner bands, Earthless draw from each of their influences in a way that's easily identifiable, but never derivative.

Chaos and chance are two of their main motivations, which explains the birth of Live at Roadburn. The sonic expedition wasn't meant to be an album, let alone a four-song double disc that seems to last as long, and is nearly as vibrant as a colorful acid trip. Here's what happened. Earthless were invited to play the 200-capacity club the Batcave at the 2008 Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Holland, but right before they were scheduled to go on, they were asked by festival organizers if they would play the main stage instead. As it turned out, headliners, Isis, had only used part of their two-hour long time slot and fans were clamoring for more. So, Earthless moved themselves and their equipment, then blissed out for 90 minutes before 2,000 awestruck music fans. When they found out that the show had been taped, they listened back to the recordings and decided that the gig captured their improvisational spirit and raw urgency better than any studio recording, they decided to release the entire spellbinding concert.

Click "more" to ingest some of the magic. Read more...