Everything you are listening to has an influence.

If you go back in your catalog, you will find how the production/music/mixes you have done very interesting. 

I did recently and was taken by surprise by how my mastering sounded a year, 2 years, 3 years ago. 

That is because the music that you are listening to right now influences you. You might be thinking at some point how crappy recordings (in my case it’s The Misfits) sound good to you because the songs are really good, or how a great recording, like pretty much all Pop music today, doesn’t move you because the songs are just not there. In my case it’s Rush: Sounds great but that voice…

Or you might be in a Dub phase, or a recent Metal phase, like I am right now. I want those guitars to be monsters! In my face! massive!