If you intend buying a solid state amp, I would suggest plugging into a few at your local music emporium. This may sound odd being that you intend playing metal, but look for an amp that has a very clean and quite sound. By quiet, I mean not hissy or loads of white noise. I would imagine your sounds will come from foot pedals so a clean sound is what you need! Look for used equipment, you'll probably get some good deals on almost new stuff! Guitar players generally like to have valve amps, and if they start with solid state, they pretty quickly move up to valves and you'll find some some good deals around. I have an old H&H solid state amp that I used to use when I played. I used it for about ten years in various bands, it was pretty well used when I bought it, and I haven't played in a band for over twenty years. It's still here sat under my desk, and it still works perfectly!