Metallica's "Master of Puppets" has continued to experience an explosion in popularity over the last week, with a whopping 17.5 million Spotify downloads ever since the Stranger Things Season 4 finale was released on July 1.

"Master of Puppets" initially entered Spotify's Top 50-Global chart within a few days of the episode airing. According to AskGamblers, the track had 426,623,861 Spotify downloads last week, and as of today (July 11), has 444,117,621 downloads and has an 80 percent popularity score. The song also had a 5,000 percent search surge on Google within the first day that the final episode came out.

“After Kate Bush’s '80s hit song 'Running Up That Hill' saw an incredible climb up the charts following its feature on Stranger Things, Metallica’s 'Master of Puppets' could easily follow suit," a spokesperson on behalf of AskGamblers said.

“We are seeing similar patterns in terms of download growth, so it might not be long until we see the legendary band reach the No. 1 spot with 'Master of Puppets' 36 years after the song’s first release. That would be an incredible achievement, considering the fact that the band, despite their undisputed legacy, never actually had a No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 song in the U.S.”

See Metallica's 10 highest-charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 here.

Metallica praised the Netflix show's use of their 1986 track, noting that they were "totally blown away" by the final episode. To celebrate its popularity spike, the band also uploaded a TikTok video of them jamming to it alongside the epic Eddie Munson scene.

Fans should also be warned that the rockers aren't going to tolerate gatekeeping within their community. They made a comment on their TikTok account declaring that "everyone is welcome in the Metallica family" regardless of the length of time they've been a fan, or whether their interest is a direct result of watching Stranger Things. 

"All of you started at ground zero at one point in time," they added.

Metallica have a handful of shows left in 2022 — get tickets here.

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