Metallica hit back at gatekeeping fan over Stranger Things comment

Guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of the band Metallica performing at Mad Cool 2022 festival — (Image credit: Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Metallica have hit back at a fan on their TikTok account for trying to gatekeep their music after its use in Stranger Things.

The band's hallmark 1986 anthem Master Of Puppets was played in the season four grand finale of the the global sci-fi/horror hit series. In a pivotal scene, the show's loveable metalhead and Dungeons and Dragons Hellfire club leader Eddie Munson shreds the song on guitar to save his friends from the creatures of the Upside Down.

Now, since its inclusion, the track has seen a major uplift in the UK singles chart, and is also in the 14th position on Spotify's global chart, and the 7th on Spotify's UK and US charts.

Metallica, who described the song's inclusion in the show as an "incredible honour", uploaded a video of a live performance of the track onto their TikTok account yesterday (July 6), captioning it: "Heard any cool songs lately?"

In the comments, one fan wrote: "I'm sorry Metallica for all the fake Stranger Things fans love ya".

In response, the band hit back, writing: "Don't be sorry. Everyone is welcome in the Metallica Family. If they like Puppets, chances are they'll find plenty of other songs to get into".

To address gatekeeping as a whole, they posted a message to the top of the comment section, writing: "FYI - EVERYONE is welcome in the Metallica Family. Whether you’ve been a fan for 40 hours or 40 years, we all share a bond through music.

"All of you started at ground zero at one point in time. 🤘🏻"

Elsewhere, one viewer jokingly declares, "Eddie played it better jkjkjk". Metallica responded: "He’s a ripper, that’s for sure".

When they first acknowledged the Stranger Things scene in which featured Master Of Puppets, the band wrote in a statement:

"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," say Metallica on their official Instagram page. "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?

"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."

Bassist Rob Trujillo revealed this week that his son Tye (alongside bandmate Kirk Hammett) was involved in bringing Master Of Puppets to life on the show.

Check out Metallica's TikTok below:

@metallica
♬ Master of Puppets (Remastered) - Metallica

Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.