It all depends on the song I would say. I don't mind speed as long as the melody is good. I think a lot of metal bands just use speed and brutality to cover up not so good riffs. A song like Mayhem's "Funeral fog" is fast, catchy and has good riffs. The speed is also something that helps it I think.
I voted for slow as I would rather have a slow song with riffs and a good mood, than a fast song with crappy riffs and no mood. Type O Negative is my favorite band and they're really slow. The mood is also probably the main reason why I like their music as much as I do. If you read what I wrote in the "I need it" thread then you will probably also understand why I can make such a big list, as all of the songs on that are based on the mood instead of just crazy speed.
But as I said at first it all depends. When it's Friday night and I wanna get drunk I don't really wanna hear Type O Negative and Lee Hazlewood.
It depends on my mood usually.........
Mostly I prefere fast stuff..... but I also enjoy listening to some very slow bands quite often.....
I can't choose one........
Depends, but never too fast, you know those wannabefasterthanlight posers
But mostly mid tempo when it comes to metal, like Katatonia.
But i've got nothing against an ultra slow tune like Turn loose the swans for example.
But how would you describe the rhythm of Meshuggah??
Slow-Mid-fast metal?