Of course, you push whatever you need to push to get the sound you want. I know a very well known engineer in NJ who has done literally hundreds of records, many of which you would know if you listened to
hardcore or punk from the nineties onwards, that constantly advocates smashing the living shit out of sounds until you get what you're after. Annihilate it he says. He's definitely got no qualms about pushing stuff to the limits but that's only because he knows his gear and he knows how far he can go. He also knows what tools to use for a specific job. However, being conservative is not his forte.
Saying that it's a good idea to try get the sound you're going for from the beginning so less has to be done later. This is my philosophy. I believe the mix starts in tracking so if I have to apply some EQ to get where I want, I'll do it. For rock there is often a need for heavy EQ, such as scooping out the midrange on the close mikes and pushing some attack. However, that can be achieved by using the right microphone. If you want a brighter snare, for instance, use a brighter mike. Simple.
I use heavy compression on drums in conjunction with some pretty heavy EQ, though. Like I said, I'll [generally] pull a lot of midrange out of the close mikes and push a little attack, particularly on the kick and toms. The kick usually requires the most cut and boost to bring out the click bit and to keep the mids at bay. On snare drum I'll usually cut a bit of midrange somewhere or other and if I want it brighter, I'll tend to go for a high shelf with a very wide slope, somewhere around 5K. In stead of EQ, these days I'll usually dupe the snare track and insert an envelope shaper. Then, I'll turn the attack (5m) all the way up and the release all the way down until all I'm left with is the quick initial transient. This usually also requires me to turn down the output to a reasonable level. Then, I'll pull LOTS of mids out of that track so all that I'm left with is the meat and the snap. After that I'll blend it into the original snare to add some crack. Depending on how consistent the drums are, it might also require a little limiting to keep the peaks from spiking too high but it's generally not a problem.
Personally, I like drums to sound powerful, punchy, clear and natural. I like the processing I apply to enhance what is already there and to keep the authenticity up front. However, there are times where I'll mix a sample into the snare and/or kick, especially for the heavy stuff, which can give a nice modern edge to it.
One more thing...bus compression. Next time you're mixing drums, do yourself a favor and omit any track-level compression (i.e. kick and snare) and just insert a quality drum compressor like an 1176 or 160VU emulation on the entire bus. Set the attack around 15ms, and the release fast, at like 50-75ms. the slower the attack setting, the more attack it lets through. You can control the level of the room sound by tweaking the release. NOW SMASH IT. Kill like 6-12dB on the entire kit. If you've got a good room sound (I make mine with impulse reverbs), you should get this very high energy pumping effect where the room breathes in and out that sounds great on rock drums. You'll find that with that technique, if you set the attack and release right, you'll never want to use compression on individual drums again.
My 2c.
Cheers
