What makes a good metal song?

[Mark Hentze]

Yeah why do you listen to the metal you listen to?.
Is it the guitar solo?
or the screaming(like rob halford from judas priest on "painkiller"?)
or the growling
or maybe the deep bass?

[MetalPioneer]

That's an interesting question.

I think one reason I love metal so much is because it can intertwine bleakness, heaviness, and technicality with melody, beauty, and aesthetics.  Bands like My Silent Wake, Ne Obliviscaris, Antestor, Extol, Becoming the Archetype, Rivers of Nihil, etc. all do such a great job of blending sounds.  

Guitar solos are great, but only being technical without actually making music can get boring.  I love slow, grinding, dissonant riffs as well.  That's one reason I love doom and death/doom metal.

I think the bass guitar is underutilized in metal overall, and would love to see more bands feature it.

Of course, vocals make a difference too.  If I don't like the vocalist, it's hard to listen to the band.