Everyday:

you should be set to go if you have a mic an interface and protools. it would all have to be basic recording, you wouldn’t be able to try different mic techniques in order to get a different sound. i reflect you would be better of with another input and mic so you can use to mics on a guitar amp, but you don’t have to.

the best equipment would mean top of the line everything from guitars, to plug-ins. experimentation is really the best thing you can try.

if i was engineering your session i would probably first set up a basic drum outline. i’ve heard about a program i believe is called “drumagog” or something is excellent from programming drum tracks. there are a lot of them out there. remember that the higher the price, the better the samples will tend to be. the main point at first would be the timing. but if you are a guitarist and excellent with time you may be fine just using the click-track. i would then confirmation the guitar then the bass. depending on the sound you want you could either plug into the itnerface via a pedal or something, or mic the amp. in person i like 1 mic on the amp, and one directly into the board and then mixing those two together. you don’t need to do it that way if you can’t, it just might take a modest longer to find out what sounds the best to you. repeat that for the bass. then on top of it lay the words. for words i like recording in a walk-in closet with cloethes on each side and the door shut. i’m not familiar with recording metal words so this might not be the best case for you, but its a start at least. and as far as the closet goes, if you want to confirmation the amp, i would do it in a closed off closet as well to get rid or excess noise. before a live audience outside of the closet will be simpler on your ears, but thats up to you. after you have that done then i would worry about the drums.

as far as the best program for tracking i would say protools simply because its a staple in most studios. and if you already have it, i would spend money on plug-ins rather than another program to confirmation.

with any studio, if you want better sound go spend money. the mic captures the sound, so if you want a better recording, start with the mic. i’ve heard the Rode NT1a on metal words and it was awesome, i highly recommend it. it retails for $240 or soemthing, but i would lump into mics priced 5x that for the sound it produces. also, an superfluous sm57 or two is always a excellent thought. the problem with adding mics is that you don’t have the inputs for it. i would recommend looking into a larger interface (make sure its compatible with protools if you want to take up again using it). you can get a larger interface, and use the software it comes with, and then import the audio files into protools for mixing if you want to do that. a excellent pair of studio monitors is also a excellent investment. you can use headset if you have to, but its simpler to mix when you hear the sound breath. headset close the sound off in my opinion.

i hope this leads you in the right direction. feel free to contact me if i can help any furthur