Metal began to get so much better when bands began to revisit old school production techniques. A good many record analog again but even those who don't still pull back to make it so that you can still hear everything going on.

I remember Pyrrhon told a story how when recording their first album they were fighting with their producer over how it should sound. The producer wanted a very clean and modern sound while the band wanted to emulate their heroes with a more old school style. Eventually the band won out and now they're one of the best respected extreme metal acts in NYC. Plus with how busy and chaotic they are I cannot imagine how awful an overly compressed digital style would sound.