Hah. No.

They had the honor of being some of the first (and alot are good, don't get me wrong), nothing more than that. Modern metal bands like: Solefald, Age of Silence, Alchemist, Sturmgeist, Agalloch, Mirrorthrone, Opera IX, Garden of Shadows, Lykathea Aflame, Wormed, Psycroptic, and Transcending Bizarre are more talented than most bands to have ever come out of the early metal scene. They are much more original as well.

People that slam the new metal scene know nothing of metal, as there are bands that DWARF the greatness of classics.