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Firstly, just to clear things up on the Slipknot = death metal business.
I've listened to a little of Slipknot's music, specifically this Iowa album. The music is harsh in places, granted, but chug chug riffing and shouted vocals do not a death metal album make. For starters, I didn't hear any chromatic progressions in those songs whatsoever, the dissonant notes associated with the genre of death metal are something that Slipknot doesn't have at all, rather placing the emphasis on repetitive groove oriented riffage. Secondly, the song structure was very rigid, with a definite verse-chorus-verse-chorus cycle driving the song to it's conclusion, rather than presenting a structural 'narrative', developing musical themes and motifs atypically. Also, the vocals are shouted rather than growled, you'll notice that his vocal sounds originate from higher in the throat than the vocals on pretty much any death metal album I can think of.
Now, do not take this as an attack upon Slipknot themselves, it is not. I'm not so arrogant as to claim that my or anyone else's opinions on musical quality should have any bearing upon any person's tastes whatsoever. Music is art, and assessments regarding the perceived 'quality' of art are entirely subjective. Genre, on the other hand, is an established convention, and by looking carefuly at facets of musical structure that are mostly objective we can begin to look at placement of specific bands and albums within a larger musical framework. I know the system isn't perfect, and there are many bands that do challenge boundaries , but in that case I'm speaking of bands like Cynic, not bands like Slipknot.

FearsKLOWN, welcome to the guild and I (as well as many others I'm sure) would be more than happy to recommend some metal albums of any genre that you might like. If you're interested in death metal, some bands that might interest you are Atheist, Suffocation, Nile or Psycroptic.

The restrictions upon band genres are not intended to impinge upon your rights to discuss what music you like, but merely to foster discussion of the musical genre thatthe guild originator intended.

metallica is a great band. one of their problems was that the evolution in their sound just kinda went off in a crappy direction. part of this is because of their popularity. they are definately one of the most influential and most well known metal band of all time. and because of that, they hit the creative plateau. they don't HAVE to experiment anymore in order to create fresh and interesting albums because they are guarenteed sales. all they have to do is throw out a cd and wait for their money to start flowing - the fan base is already there. people will buy it because it says Metallica on it. other bands don't have that luxury. they have to consistantly evolve their sound in order to attract new fans. success is really what killed metallica. not so much the "selling out," that's more of a consequence of their success.