In what way are "purist" or "elitist" tendencies counterproductive? The "elitist" branch of metal that I assume you are referring to demonstrates an internal evolution that is coming along just fine without the need to branch out into rap or country. The advocation of "trying something different or new, regardless of how it turns out" sounds like just a waste of time and a crowding of the airwaves to me. How about trying something different or new with a focus and a purpose? It's rare for a band to move into a new territory and immediately produce something viable. Change almost always comes incrementally and its roots largely can be easily traced. This is the way that the foundational elements of metal, generally speaking, have come about, through Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Mayhem, Burzum, At the Gates, Demilich, etc. Small, incremental steps have been the cornerstone for the advancement of the genre as a living form of art since it was first recognized as an individual movement separate from others. The more noteworthy bands of the past decade and up to now, such as Ignivomous, Darkspace, Averse Sefira, Warning, Dead Congregation, Teitanblood, etc., are doing the same things today, though on a lesser scale, that the bands from the early-mid 80s were doing to give birth to extreme metal. The change was smaller and less dramatic, especially aesthetically, than it may appear.