My was Nightwish, for those who don't know, it's a Finnish (but they sing in English) symphonic metal band. I really liked it, as a kid, and as I got older I moved to trash metal, mainly Metallica, than I got to nu metal, and started listening to Korn, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and I even started to like Rammstein very much. As I look back to Nightwish, and I don't really like symphonic metal anymore, listening to it is still an emotional roller-coaster because of all the memories I've got. I think that it made me like some melodic songs much more, and what is funny is that it functioned as both a gateway to metal and a gateway to classical music for me.
Anyway what was your gateway to metal, how do you think it influenced you, and what do you think about it now, as a full-time metalhead?