recommendation.

I love anime art, but I very rarely watch actual anime or read manga. So I'd like some recommendations or affirmations on stuff I might like.

I'm looking for:
violence.
cuteness.
twistedness.
psychology/philsophy.
gothic lolita.
goth/dark/angsty stuff.
trippy-ness.
complexity is nice.
good animation is nice.

I'm not looking for:
purely love stories.
stories with omg a boy being chased by 5 girls omghilariouslol (love hina etc).
too much mecha.
stories about a lone warrior traveling through a land of stereotypes, if you know what I mean.

I've liked images from these or been recommended them, but I don't know anything about them:
fullmetal alchemist
deathnote
hellsing
evangelion
rozen maiden
type-moon
noir
gunslinger girl
gungrave
full metal panic
trigun
hack//sign
raxiphan
ninja scroll
flcl
boogiepop phantom
escaflowne
paranoia agent
^ sorry if any of those are misspelled or 2 of the same series, I don't really know anything about them.

Animes I've seen and liked: Angel Sanctuary, Akira, Chobits, Lain. And the Battle Royale manga.

Any help would be appreciated, but if this is too attention-whorey or lame just don't reply.

Watch Evangelion.  Anything past ep 16 and the movie might be what you're looking for.
Trigun is a scifi western comedy that's a little too cute at times.  You might be better off with Cowboy Bebop.
Ninja Scroll and Dagger of Kamui are fun bits of the old ultraviolence

Torrent anything that interests you and don't listen to others opinions too heavily.

Go watch Rozen Maiden RIGHT NOW. It has every single thing on your list except psychology/philosophy and complexity. Episodes 5 and 10 are pure genius.

Cuteness, twistedness, psychology/philsophy, trippy-ness, and complexity? May I suggest Revolutionary Girl Utena? The plot synopsis might sound extremely silly, but the series itself is damn awesome. The music will blow your mind, the crackpot visuals will blow your mind again, and if you ever happen to read up on gnosticism after watching the series, your mind will be blown a third time. You need to to be able to tolerate ridiculously long legs and a certain amount of repetition, though.

I've watched only 4 episodes of it so far so I'm no expert on this matter, but you might also want to check out Serial Experiments Lain.

Keeping up with the screw-up-your-mind theme, you might as well watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, too. It's very good, but I wasn't that fond of it, though, except for the last two episodes.

Oh, sorry, didn't notice you emntioned you'd already seen Lain. Never mind that, then.

I think you'll like Neon Genesis Evangelion, and you may even be one of the people who likes the bizarre mindfuck ending of the series, if you like twistedness and angst.  It has giant robots that aren't really giant robots, a clinically depressed antihero protagonist, and lots of really complex, really messed-up characters you'll find mostly sympathetic despite their glaring flaws, once you get to know them.  You may even enjoy the ending film, "End of Evangelion," which is simultaneously technically breathtaking (from the art, to the music, to the voice acting, to the animation) and hideously depressing, with ultraviolence all around.  A lot of people think that NGE went into the crapper around Episode 21, and EoE was everything that sucked about the ending multiplied a hundredfold with the amps cranked up to eleven, though.

You may also like Cowboy Bebop, which has gorgeous animation and original music, and a lot of angst, though it's more style than substance (what style it is, though, what style it is).

I'll also second the nomination for Trigun.  It starts out as a random goofball comedy anime, but it becomes darker and darker, more and more serious, more and more angsty, as it goes on.

FLCL is cute, twisted, and trippy, but it's 98% random goofball comedy.  (with breathtaking art and animation and very nice original music, too).

>>3
Yes it does.  Start thinking deeper.

>>4
O_O. I don't think I'd like my mind being blown away that much....

Yes, Evangelion certainly. But be warned that the first half of the show, while it must be watched to understand the rest, is, well, stupid... Generic big robot anime with contrived "love hina" situations, and a dumb plot. In my opinion anyway.

Don't worry, >>4's mind is just rather easy to blow. While it is an awesome series, Utena is not a world changing experience, just a well-executed meditation on human nature. If you're into really gratuitous symbolism, you need to watch it.

Paranoia Agent is also a work of genius. Definitely recommended if you like sort of philosophical, very surreal shows.

Madoka sounds like the show for you.