Many thx James 
I listen to metal for the last 34 years so it's probably just knowing what's important for each genre and trying to get there with my mix. I always mix with ref mixes - they help me to stay on track. Samples (Slate, Superior Drummer) and guitar/bass sounds from Andy Sneaps EZmix Addon are a big help too, the rest is mix prep, gain staging and getting the balance right. I don't use a lot of plugins nowadays - most of the time its the slate stuff and some special tools stuff from other companies because i love the workflow or because slate doesn't have that kind of stuff yet (like the de-esser from fabfilter or C6 from Waves). I do a LOT more automation these days because it's the only way to bring out all the small details in a song.
I listen to metal for the last 34 years so it's probably just knowing what's important for each genre and trying to get there with my mix. I always mix with ref mixes - they help me to stay on track. Samples (Slate, Superior Drummer) and guitar/bass sounds from Andy Sneaps EZmix Addon are a big help too, the rest is mix prep, gain staging and getting the balance right. I don't use a lot of plugins nowadays - most of the time its the slate stuff and some special tools stuff from other companies because i love the workflow or because slate doesn't have that kind of stuff yet (like the de-esser from fabfilter or C6 from Waves). I do a LOT more automation these days because it's the only way to bring out all the small details in a song.