Actually, I can explain this a little for you Mr. L. There's a bit more to it than most people know. I'll share what I know for what it's worth.
Years ago, there was a guy at a radio station that was a bit of a gear head. He pretty much lived at the station creating cool new things for them to have that other stations did not. One day while messing around with an audio editor, he processed audio in a way using compression and limiting that made the audio so loud, it was just incredible. Radio stations have had loudness wars for many years. The object is to switch to their station and be enticed to stay due to how loud they would be.
So this dude made what they called at the time a CRT which was a program file used in radio that triggered songs, commercials etc. He compiled the stations most played songs and processed them with this compression trick and turned his boss onto it. The boss was amazed and knew without a doubt they would have the loudest station in the area. So, they implemented this guy's little trick and processed all their material so it would be super loud on air. That along with the station compressors and you really have ear-bleeding levels. Also, keep in mind that a radio station has to stay within a certain band-width when is sends. This means that they are limited as to how much signal can be sent. With the use of massive compressors to keep them within their band limits, they can increase volume by about +6dB.
So anyway, this guy was being asked by friends of his that worked at other radio stations, how he was doing what he was doing. He of course never let the cat out of the bag. The other stations wanted in, so they approached him silently and offered him loads of cash to do the same for their stations. The next thing you know, this dude was processing audio all over the country and no longer had a job with one station. He was a free agent that worked for everyone.
Now, while this was all going on and he was enjoying his riches, other stations were curious as to how this was happening so they would have their people experiment. Sure enough, others figured it out and this dude was no longer needed when they saw how easy it really was. Now, enter in the labels into this and they wanted in as well. Record labels of rock/metal have always had little friendly battles with what label put out the loudest album of the year. So when they heard about these possibilities, they were foaming at the mouth.
From there an all out war was on and the thing that was fitting about it was the bands whos material was always crushed, were never really great dynamic bands anyway for the most part. The aggressive bands found out that this over-compression and squashage actually complimented their style really. This became part of a bands make-up in reality. Those of us who favor dynamics over loudness will differ that point, but the fact remains that most of the bands that went this route never had much in the way of dynamics anyway.
That said, it is not the bands choice at all times. Most times it is the label that demands this. The artist sometimes doesn't have a say depending on who they are. It is also very rare you'll hear a band in an interview state "we wanted to have the loudest record on the planet". True artists would never talk like that and lets face it, even those we may not consider true artists have enough sense to know how important dynamics are in a song. And you're right, record companies aren't in business for true music fans anymore and this is because most of the founding members are either deceased or retired. The young blood gets in there and alters things to keep up with the times and they wind up ruining everything. There was a time when truly talented people got record deals. As a matter of fact if you didn't have talent...true talent, you couldn't get a deal to save your life.
These days, the word "unique" has been used in place of the word "greatness" and the masses buy into it because the record companies ram it down their throats via mass marketing, radio marketing and all the ploys that guarantee them success at some level. A good, old record company president wouldn't sign "unique" unless it was something truly spectacular, yet unique. In today's times we see way more "image" and "agression" than we see true talent. Remember the phrase "garbage in, garbage out"? If the massive squashing and compression were not there to hide some of these bands flawls, people probably wouldn't buy into it. Then again, if 2 dudes farting in harmony gets the right financial backing and promotion, it will sell too...so I'm not sure it really matters. We come to find out more and more, that bands suck live these days due to not being able to play what they recorded and the lack of processing has painted false pictures to everyone. I've never heard in all my life, so many complaining about big bands that sell well....about how horrible they sound live. The reason being....anyone can sound good in the studio these days, but you can't hide that stuff live unless you cheat and use computers running in the background....which many are using today as well.
So at the end of the day, you can also say that many bands are hiding behind this mess we call squashing or over-compression. The key to it these days in my opinion, is to get things as loud as they are yet maintain dynamics. Here's a prime example for you....2 actually.
Like these bands or hate them, they have a good grasp on what loud and dynamic is supposed to sound like in my opinion. The new Alice in Chains tune "Check my Brain" which can be heard on their site when it opens, is a great candidate for loud yet dynamic. Another is the new Creed song called "Overcome" which will open if you visit their site. Great production, extreme volume yet dynamics are kept in check. I think things are changing...we can only hope. I have no problems with extreme volume as long as dynamics remain in a tune. As soon as they are gone and it sounds like one lump of extreme loudness with no change, you get ear fatigue as well as the need to hurl.
