I'm afraid metal has not withstood the test of time, I find it kind of sterile now, including stuff I loved in the late 80's.
Soundgarden et al has, however withstood the test of time for me.
I feel the same, Pete. I do love Soundgarden and a few other early 90s bands. Great music. As for the true metal stuff, I guess I'm too old now (or less pissed off).
It's funny, I've had a lot of friends over the years that have "moved on" from metal to other genres. They've tried to get me into their music, but even if I can appreciate it from a musical standpoint, it all seems to lack the energy that I look for in music. I just need my music to be heavy, I guess.
Take Soundgarden, for example. I can listen to Badmotorfinger all day long - it's one of the best, most overlooked sludge metal albums of all time. But their later stuff, when they started moving on more of an alt-rock direction, just doesn't do much for me.
I think it's the pop slickness that turns me off. I've been a big fan of Korn and Slipknot, but the radio-friendly ripoffs like Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park were horrible, IMO.