Modern Metal tone, what is it?

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Markedman

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I was talking to a friend about Mesa amps, he has a Dual rec and I own Mark lll's. He was insistent that "you can't get a modern metal tone with a mark" and I wasn't willing to debate that mainly because I could care less about tone chasing. I listen to metal, Children of Bodom, Between the Buried and Me, Lamb of God, Mudvayne, Blotted Science, etc. are some favorites. The first time I heard Slayer, Metallica & Pantera, I was totally mesmerized and my playing took me to another level. I was practicing all day long with a 100 watt Marshall and BOSS metal-zone stomp box and that was modern metal at the time. To think of the tone Dimebag got on "Vulgar Display of Power" as old school blows my mind completely. Although Slipknot (biggest metal band of 2014 you know) doesn't use Mesa's, the tone they have is Mesa all day long and I can get that tone just by turning my amp on. Alice in Chains always referred to themselves as a blues band and System of a Down doesn't fit into the nu-metal category, both have the Mark sound and use Mesa amps, but that is not what I would think of as modern metal. With the right tubes and guitar pick up, my Mark lll breathes fire like no other amp. My son works with a band that uses Mark V's, Beyond the Shore, http://www.metalblade.com/us/artists/beyond-the-shore/ when they were in the area, they slept over night at our home and looked at my Mark llB, lll's and IV like they were antiques. So…. what is "modern metal tone" and what band/player has it? Is there a tone that my Mark lll actually can't get? Not with me as it's pilot!!!!! Oh yeah, I'm old, b. 1962 and when I go to shows, I'm always the oldest fart there, except for when I went see Slayer last year, a lot of geezers at that concert.
 
I'm also confused by this. My issue with the term itself is that "modern" tones usually are usually part of a "modern" mix. I don't really care for the pushy, loud, compressed brickwalls people call mixes these days, so I'm having a hard time liking the guitar tones in these mixes. However, there are exceptions, like Machine Head's new album - it's polished and such, but it's still pleasant to listen to.

If I had to name a modern metal tone myself, I'd say The Blackening (also Machine Head).
 
Machine Head is so awesome, I love the "Blackening" it's such a great album from beginning to last. Rob and Phil are super nice guys, I was into those guys when they were with Vio-lence and have followed them since.
Thanks for your response, I believe that tone is in your amp and guitar, but technique is in the heart and hands of the player and talent is the sum of that. Modern metal as a term reminds me of a seriously old guitar store that was around in the sixties called "Modern Music" where I took lessons, it wasn't very modern. (They had a Gibson Black Beauty 3 pick-ups hanging on the wall for an outrageous amount of $500.00 and I wanted that guitar!) Super low tuning, 7 and 8 string guitars with crazy pick-ups, a fizzy sounding pre-amp tube, a rack compressor/sustainer, I might not ever want modern metal anyway.
 
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