What's what you like the most in your metal?
I think of the metal I like as the "mid-ground".
I don't like power / symphonic type stuff. Even Iron Maiden is too far in that direction for me. And the vast majority of prog metal. The whole operatic-inclined vocal style of this kind of stuff isn't for me. (DT are a glaring anomaly and a case of lucky timing).
And I don't like anything that goes too far over into extreme metal, though some of my favourite stuff gets very close to it, but remains palatable based on some catch. But generally speaking, death vocals, black metal vocals, or "I can't do anything like singing, so I'll just scream every single word monotonously" vocals (mathcore/metalcore?) won't go down well.
I generally enjoy a mix of the stuff in between, metal bands where people actually sing, or aren't overly harsh. I liked some thrash, some groove metal, some nu-metal, alt-metal. These days, I really like stoner and sludge type stuff. In my experience though, those subgenres are all gone, or have been treading water since the early 2000s.
To be honest, I think the "mid-ground" I'm describing doesn't exist anymore, or if it does, I can't see it. After about 2005, the bands that might have fit in it became either more power/classic metal-leaning, or brought aspects of more extreme metal into their sound, too much for my taste in both cases.