Whilst I agree listening to only "crusty" produced albums is silly, I can understand deliberately giving an album that sort of production. Certain forms of metal, especially the more "extreeeeeeeeme" types, (black, death, etc) are frequently more about the whole atmosphere of the song, rather than the instrumentation of the individual instruments. Perfectly clear production is meant so that you can easily make what all the musicians are doing, which is fine for certain types of music, particularly more technical bands. However, thats not what that music is about, it's not about what crazy riffs or licks the guitarist is doing, or the nuts blasting by the drummer, its about the whole feeling of the band giving an intense oppressive atmosphere (I know, the word gets thrown around a lot, it's a total cliche). I tend to prefer a muddier production when it comes to black and death metal because I just feel it suits the music better, but the clear mix certainly has its place. See Politics of Ecstasy, which is produced perfectly for the music. Dunno if any of that makes sense.
