Started when my buddy in sixth grade (was 12 at the time) was telling me "hey dude, you should listen to Slayer!" At the time I was into Slipknot, but after that my friend made me a burned cd of some Slayer songs, So from there I started getting more into them and couldn't stop listening. Hell Awaits was one of the first songs I listened to and loved it. I started playing the songs on guitar (no tabs just by ear) and the bands speed and aggression in their songs actually improved my guitar playing. As time went on I got into other bands (Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Deicide, etc.) and that started my interest in Death Metal, as well as Black Metal. That's about it, still love this band and try to see them live when I can.