Metallicamay be on track for a Kate Bush-style Gen Z revival after its song “Master of Puppets” was used in the season four finale of the Netflix show “Stranger Things.”
The song just hit No. 1 on the iTunes rock chart, some 36 years after it was originally released.
In the second volume of the series’ fourth season, the cast’s resident metal-head — the long-haired, leather-clad Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) — plays a scorching instrumental version of the Bay Area rock band’s 1986 track in one of the episode’s key scenes.
“The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into ‘Stranger Things’ has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include ‘Master of Puppets‘ in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,” Metallica said in anInstagram poston Tuesday, July 5. “We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away… it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”
The band members —frontmanJames Hetfield,drummerLars Ulrich, guitaristKirk Hammettand bassistRobert Trujillo— gave the scene their roaring approval.
“It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”
The “Stranger Things” guitar solo was actually performed byTye Trujillo, the 17-year-old son of the band’s Robert Trujillo. Tye is also a bass player like his father.
“That’s my boy!” the older Trujillo wrote onInstagram. “Proud of ya Tye! ‘Stranger Things’finale shredding it on ‘Master of Puppets.’”
On Friday, July 8, Metallica shared a TikTok video of the band members playing a “duet” of the songs with Munson.
Currently losing my mind over@Metallicaduetting with Eddie Munson on Master of Puppets!pic.twitter.com/CKyhaLVRiB
— Netflix (@netflix)July 8, 2022
The English singer-songwriter Bush is also enjoying another run at the charts with her 1985 single “Running Up That Hill,” which hitNo.1 on Spotify’s Top 50 U.S. streaming chart and No. 2 on the company’s Top 50 Global chart in June after it was featured in “Stranger Things.”
Metallica is not the only Bay Area band to be featured on the latest season of the Netflix show.Episode eight of season four ends with a remix of Journey’s 1983 hit “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).”The track climbed theBillboardrock digital sales charts earlier this year after it was used in a trailer for the new season.
According to Shazam, the music discovery app, thetop three searched artiststhis week are Journey, Kate Bush and Metallica.
“Stranger Things”(TV-14) is available to stream onNetflix.