1) To create a solid guitar tone that is heavy and distorted, you need to record your DI (Direct Input or Direct Inject) guitar signal first. 2) Next, load up the amp sim of your choice in the signal chain of the channel track where the guitar DI was recorded. 3) Activate the VST plugin/amp sim to emulate an authentic guitar tone over your recorded signal. 4) Add effects such as reverb, delay, tremolo, compressor in the amp sim as per requirement. 5) Double or quadruple track your rhythm guitar tracks. Record another DI guitar track using the same process as above. 6) Pan one guitar hard left (first DI guitar track) and one hard right so that your rhythm guitar sounds layered and sits nicely in the mix on the left and right speakers. 7) That's it. Now you have a formidable metal guitar tone at the ready in your DAW.