The following contains minor spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4, now streaming on Netflix.
Due to Stranger Things, streams of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" have risen to greater heights.
According to a report from Luminate obtained by Variety, during the week after Volume 2 of the Netflix series' fourth season released on July 1, on-demand streams for the 1986 metal song rose 650.3%. The week prior, video and audio streams for "Master of Puppets" rested at 1,020,333, but shot up to 7,655,536 streams afterward. Metallica has Eddie Munson's Upside Down metal concert to thank for the boost.
What is Metallica's Relation to Stranger Things?
The Season 4 finale, "Chapter Nine: The Piggyback," sees Eddie (Joseph Quinn) create a diversion in the Upside Down dimension by performing "Master of Puppets" on his electric guitar. The moment has been praised by many fans online, including the official Dungeons & Dragons Twitter account, a game that is heavily involved in the lore of Stranger Things. Aside from his guitar skills, Eddie is the Dungeon Master for Hawkins High School's "Hellfire Club," a D&D group of which leading cast members Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) are members.
Metallica reacted to Eddie's guitar scene days after the finale landed on Netflix, praising the inclusion of "Master of Puppets." Discussing the "pivotal scene" on Instagram, the band wrote, "We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away... it's so extremely well done." The band continued, "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."
Metallica is Getting the Kate Bush Treatment
This is the second time now that Stranger Things Season 4 has caused a resurgence for a track from the '80s. After Volume 1 released on May 27, singer-songwriter Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" spread across the Internet like wildfire, being used in TikTok videos and also garnering a massive streaming boost of its own. The song is used as an important plot device for Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) across the season. Being that "Running Up That Hill" is Max's favorite song, the Hawkins crew discovers that Max will be protected from the villainous Upside Down telepath, Vecna, so long as she keeps listening to it.
The first four seasons of Stranger Things and Eddie's tribute to Metallica are now available to stream on Netflix. Season 4 is the series' penultimate season, which will conclude with Season 5. A release window for the final chapter has not been announced as of writing.
Source: Luminate via Variety