UPDATE:

I just finished listening to Unexpect's "In A Flesh Aquarium" while I walked my dog...

What a horrible piece of crap! It's as if The Great Kat (minus the talent) decided to cover SOAD with substandard instruments and production. The song "Silence 011010701" reminded me of that episode of "Friends" where Ross plays the keyboard. (gag) Just the fact that it reminded me of FRIENDS (FOR GOD"S SAKE!)... I hope you were pulling my leg about this one. I've taken ****s that came out sounding better than this CD!

Needless to say, it made a fantastic frizbee - I pity the poor s.o.b. who finds it... in fact, I hope it broke when it hit the ground.

Anyway, the search continues...

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! An actual Dethklok fan!

Thank you for proving my point.

You should check out this old band called Spinal Tap. I mean, just because they are fictional characters who actually seem to make fun of the music they perform doesn't mean that they aren't a kick-ass metal band, right? You'll probably like them... Although, I must warn you, the drums in their music are pretty weak. They just can't seem to keep a decent drummer in the group. :p:

If you think metal died with Dimebag then you don't get very deep in looking for good metal...especially if you consider Hatebreed a great metal band (I don't mind them, just too generic as someone said...nothing real creative)

Recommendations:
Opeth
Between The Buried And Me
The Dillinger Escape Plan
Death (old band as well, but maybe you've never heard em...there great especially when they get more into proggy death metal)
Baroness
Mastodon
Gojira

Don't know if this is your cup of tea but if you enjoy post-metal which I'm a huge fan of check out these bands:
Isis
Neurosis
Pelican--AMAZING
Red Sparrowes
Jesu
Cult of Luna
Rosetta
Mouth of the Architect

And what point is that?

Saying that metal died along with Dimebag is basically saying that there were/are no great metal bands since Damagaplan. Stupid.

I miss Chuck. He was awesome. I used play Spiritual Healing so loud my ears would ache afterwards.

Thanks for the other recommendations (ditto to everyone who listed bands). I like Mastodon and Gojira already, also a few of the others. I'll keep checking back with updates on the rest.

"Transforming your mind from the inside out
Overcoming fear that made you doubt
Observing what is stored in the subconscious
Trusting what you feel with your gut responses

See past the dark and use your energy
Learn from these images
Thoughts that we call dreams

This power lies within the mind
Gain wisdom through abilities
Change what's to come in future time
Avoiding pain and misery

Look through the fake from what is real
Making desicions by what you feel
Live for the future and not the past
The weak of mind will never last

Perceiving visions that reoccur
Analyse your dreams to gain
A better perspective of your life
In control of your destiny with mind and soul

See past the dark and use your energy
Learn from these images
Thoughts that we call dreams

This power lies within the mind
Gain wisdom through abilities
Change what's to come in future time
Avoiding pain and misery"
- Within The Mind, DEATH

Awesome, awesome song. R.I.P.

The point: If the #1 selling metal album is from fictional, animated characters from Cartoon Network - and they actually have so-called metal fans calling their songs "great" (that's where you came in) - then that leads me to believe that something is seriously WRONG with the genre.

To further illustrate the point lets look at history, shall we?

Hottest metal albums by year:

1980 Ace of Spades - Motorhead
1981 Diary of a Madman - Ozzy Osbourne
1982 Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
1983 Holy Diver - Dio
1984 Ride the Lightning - Metallica
1985 Bonded By Blood - Exodus
1986 Master of Puppets - Metallica
1987 Among The Living - Anthrax
1988 ...And Justice For All - Metallica
1989 Beneath The Remains - Sepultura
1990 Seasons in the Abyss - Slayer
1991 self-titled - Metallica
1992 Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera
1993 Undertow - Tool
1994 Far Beyond Driven - Pantera
1995 Astro-Creep: 2000 - White Zombie
1996 Aenima - Tool
1997 The More Things Change... - Machine Head
1998 Follow The Leader - Korn
1999 The Gathering - Testament
2000 Clayman - In Flames
2001 Iowa - Slipknot
2002 The Art of Balance - Shadows Fall
2003 The Impossibility Of Reason - Chimaira
2004 Leviathan - Mastodon

(Dimebag Darrell dies Dec. 8, 2004)

2005 Ghost Reveries - Opeth
2006 Inhuman Rampage - Dragonforce
2007 The Dethalbum - Dethklok

... and, yes, I know people will bitch about Korn/Slipknot/Tool not being "real metal". Spare me.

I'm still not seeing the correlation between Dimebag dying and the supposed and debatable decline in the quality of metal.

Well how else do you think Motley Crue are going to fill a venue.

Hahaha I fucking reckon.

Motorhead are awesome.