For Metal you can't go wrong with all Mahogany, or Alder body and Maple neck. There's not a real NEED for a special type of wood, as long as its quality, like Warmoth. With Dimmu or Dahlia levels of gain the wood tone can get covered up pretty quick.
To support the earlier posts and with my experience in thrash and black metal, the body wood plays second to the pickups and overall rig.
IMHO It's better to spend money on quality pickups, cables and AMP than spending for a fancy wood.
For metal, active pickups isn't the ONLY way to go. EMGs and Blackouts have their advantages: they're quiet, reliable and consistent with few if any surprises.
The Bill Lawrence XL 500 (Or BL USA) in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck are a great passive combo that's passed the test of time. It's an alternative to the Dimebucker, which is modeled after the Lawrence. For the "Real Deal" get a Bill and Becky Lawrence XL500, the Bill Lawrence USA is good too. There is much debate on what is better. :dontknow:
Especially with tuning as low as C standard it's VITAL to keep the guitar intonated correctly. If not it'll sound out of tune and weak. When it's right, you'll feed your amp a great tone from square one. Let the AMP do the work. Keep your technique tight. Oh, and remember, you don't need as much gain as you think you do...It's only heavy if you can tell what you're playing.
:rock-on: