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...

The only thing we know about Tasmania is what we've learned about the Tasmanian Devil in Bugs Bunny cartoons. But if Hobart, Tasmania technical death metal band Psycroptic is any sort of reflection of the region, we know where we're spending out winter vacation.

Psycroptic are unerringly precise, alarmingly infectious and super frickin' heavy. And they make pretty awesome videos, too. We especially like the way the images quiver with the piledriver vibrations of the double bass drums. Click more to "Initiate" yourself. Read more...

The Black Dahlia Murder, Kataklysm and Necrophagist are a few of the obvious highlights from this year's Summer Slaughter tour, but there are a bunch of other bands that are tearing faces and taking names as well, and one of the most lethal is Hobart, Tasmania's Psycroptic.

The band plays extreme technical death metal that's both intensely mathematical and absolutely captivating. With drums that pummel at, like, 8,000 BPM and guitars that shave flesh faster than a vegetable skinner, yet still leave something tangible in their slippery wake, Psycroptic could challenge Arsis and Meshuggah for the Nobel Noise Prize of Science. And they're every bit as brutal live, nailing each impossible rhythm shift and speed flurry with hunger and precision. Don't believe us? Click "more" and check out Metal Injection's excellent footage of "Isle of Disenchantment." Read more...