Thrash metal band Slayer formed in California in 1981, and was founded by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. They shot to fame with their 1986 release Reign in Blood, and went on to become one of the biggest and most influential metal bands in music, with dark tracks such as Raining Blood, Seasons in the Abyss, Angel of Death and War Ensemble. Slayer are known as pioneering thrash metal as a subgenre, and have won 2 Grammys, 2 Kerrang! awards and a Metal Hammer Golden Gods award.