Wow I think the op was just looking for a general answer and not an elitist ribbing.
Generally what you look for in a metal bass sound is a scooped mids tone with bright clean his and punchy low end.
Guitar distortion tends to be mid-range in tone so a bright punchy tone can cut through mids.
Strings eq and amps have a huge impact on that tone as does an onboard preamp.
What pickup brand you you use depends on the type of pickup generally but hi output with boosted highs and lows is what yet looking for. I'm a death metal player and use distortion, I prefer Seymour Duncans quarter pounder for power, DiMarzio split p for bright clarity. I've also heard good things about lace alumitones. With emgs they tend to be ok but with the exception of the emg x they are more mid oriented and don't handle low b or a that well.
