Always have drummers record to a click track. Even the best drummers slip out of time once in a while, and nothing is more infuriating than noticing a slight tempo mistake during mixdown after all other tracks have been laid. Click tracks eliminate the possibility of having to re-record everything just because of one little timing hitch on the drum tracks.
If you want the guitars to sound like their blasting through a twenty foot wall of speakers, you may think that the best way to achieve it is to mike that Marshall full stack you have in the studio. This is not the case. Some of the biggest sounding guitar tracks have been recorded using combo amplifiers turned up to a high volume -- usually somewhere between the 11 and 2 o'clock positions. Set the amplifier in the corner of the studio, facing the corner. Mike it closely and slightly off-axis.
Metal drummers often punish their kick drums and snares, so mike those drums to effectively capture that fury. Position the kick mike close to the beater head so to pick up the click of the beater hitting the drum head. To increase the presence of beater slap, you can either loosen the beater head, or boost the EQ at 2500 Hz. The snare drum should be miked near the top edge of the drum, on-axis, and can also be miked a second time off-axis.
While guitars can often be recorded with basic effects, the bass guitar should be recorded clean, close-miked slightly off-axis through a half stack-sized cabinet or via a direct line-in. The goal when recording bass is to capture a full, rich signal with significant bottom-end, mid-range growl and punchy highs that cut through the mix easily. Good bass amps can provide this combination of tones without much tweaking. However, bass signals do require some compression while recording, usually at a ratio near 5:1. Any needed effects can be added later while mixing.
Remember to separate recording from mixing, and that every track can be modeled thoroughly during mixing. Furthermore, you can't modify elements you haven't recorded. So, when recording, focus on capturing full, clear sounds from each instrument.
Make sure all instruments are tuned before each take. Tuning issues are more than minor nuisances.
Consider recording the guitars on an analog recording unit. Traditionally, analog recordings are considered to be warmer than digital recordings, and capture subtle nuances of sound.
Don't go overboard with the gain on guitar amps. Use just enough to get a solid crunch.
Double track the vocals for presence, and record them clean. Effects can be added afterward.
Poor vocals can only be helped so much with pitch correction and other digital tweaks. "Garbage in, garbage out" is the old adage. The better prepared a band is before entering the studio, the better the recording will be.