They have a handful of great tracks. The problem is that they have more than a handful of mediocre tracks. Like I said, "Nothing Else Matters" IMO ranks amongst the most overrated songs of its era (although "Smells Like Teen Spirit" will remain at nr 1 in that chart -- sorry, but IMO Nirvana were a terrible band), and that is supposed to be like their signature song?
I respect their impact on the musical style they're in, there's no denying in that. However, IMO they don't even come close to Orphaned Land. I'm not exactly a metalhead, there's just a few metal bands that in my opinion are really superb. early Black Sabbath, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Orphaned Land, and (if you wish to call it metal rather than prog rock/noise rock) God Machine and Rush. The latter two are up for debate when it comes to giving them the metal tag because Rush have done multiple styles in their long career and God Machine isn't the typical metal band neither, but anyway.
Then there's the category of decent enough bands which I listen to now and then without calling myself a fan (Nightwish is a good example of a decent band that however also doesn't grasp me by the throat, Lacuna Coil idem dito) and then there's the likes of Iron Maiden, Metallica, etc where I recognise their impact on the style but where I just fail to stand listening to an entire album.
Of course tagging per genre has something silly because it's not like bands are supposed to stick within the narrow cage of one style. For example I would not consider Marilyn Manson, Rammstein or Type O Negative as typical metal bands, whereas mostly they will be tagged as such. Even with God Machine (to name a band that I do adore) it's up for debate if you can really call it metal.
If I had to organise a metal festival and were unrestricted in whom to invite I'd probably opt for Nightwish, A Perfect Circle, Tool (sorry for having to do two sets Maynard!), Salem, and Orphaned Land. Unfortunately without God Machine since the band got defunct when their bass player died
