The v-modas have a far too v shaped sound signature for metal. I bought my stepson a pair and tried them out... The trial made me glad I didn't buy a pair for myself. The build quality is great, and I'm sure for popular music they sound fine, but you want something with more aggressive mids and bass that's a bit less prominent than what they offer. My closed phones are Sony mdr-7520 and Sennheiser Amperior, neither of which will suit you (price for the Sony, on ear wear of the sennheiser). Besides those two, I only have experience with open phones. The guys in this thread can probably point you in the right direction though
http://www.head-fi.org/t/715478/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution/1830#post_11804209
Also, there's a thread for discussing metal. We usually talk various forms of death and black metal, so it might be up your alley.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/397407/lets-talk-metal/19845
Yes, I have heard from many folks the M-100 has bass that does tend to swamp the rest of the music a bit. In my experience, the ON-EAR models from V-Moda, however, the M-80 and XS, do a GREAT job of having good, prominent, tight and punchy bass, but without letting that bass overwhelm or bleed into any of the rest of the frequency-range. However, the treble on both of those is a tad less sparkly than you might like for metal music. . .even so however, the metal I do listen to sounds VERY good on my V-Moda M-80s. When it comes to metal I almost exclusively listen to old-school stuff, but I can tell you that Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and even Slayer all sound FANTASTIC on the M-80s.
Meanwhile, when it comes to rap, I have to say, the V-Moda M-80s do rap AMAZINGLY well. And from what I hear many folks say about them, the XS do everything the M-80s do, but even better.
THen there's the build-quality. V-Moda's headphones, as the guy I quoted here mentions, have very good build. In fact, some of the best build quality in the entire world of headphones, really. I have a feeling I couldn't manage to break these things unless I either ran them over with my car, or actually strained a bit to try to snap the headband or something, and I am a pretty strong guy. These things are like a damn tank.
ANyway that's my two-cents: To sum things up, my V-Moda M-80s do the rap and metal I listen to quite spectacularly for a pair of closed on-ears.
THat being said, a good step-up, if you're willing to pay about twice as much, for all-genre headphones, would be either the Sony MDR-1A or the PSB M4U1. The latter would probably be better for two genres like rap and metal that contrast so greatly with each-other. You wouldn't be able to get a pair of either of them new, but you could easily find them used for under 250, and most folks could tell ya that there's really nothing wrong with getting used headphones as long as it's from a reliable seller.
