Robert Trujillo has revealed that his son, Tye Trujillo, added additional electric guitar parts to Metallica’s Master of Puppets for the track’s inclusion in the fourth season of Stranger Things.
When the show’s final installment aired late last week, it not only revealed the temporary fate of the Hawkins crew ahead of the show’s final-ever fifth season – don’t worry, strictly no spoilers here – but it also answered one of the internet’s most hotly debated questions: what was Eddie Munson shredding on his B.C. Rich Warlock in the season four trailer?
After it was confirmed that the Hellfire Club captain was blitzing through Metallica’s Master of Puppets, it has now been revealed that the original version received a sonic pick-me-up to help transpose the trailblazing thrash metal classic for the Upside Down.
And to help them achieve this, the Stranger Things team tapped Tye Trujillo to record new guitar parts for the song.
Though his father doesn’t feature on the original recording – Master of Puppets was released in 1986, when the late Cliff Burton was on bass, some 17 years before Trujillo joined the band – Tye is no doubt better qualified than most when it comes to covering Metallica tracks.
His own musical chops have seen him follow in his father's footsteps and play bass for Suicidal Tendencies, and he apparently received help from the original Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett to nail his parts.
Taking to social media, the Metallica bassist confirmed the news by sharing screenshots of the scene, alongside a video of the rolling credits that read, “Additional Guitar Tracks by Tye Trujllo”.
“That’s my boy,” Robert wrote. “Proud of ya Tye! Stranger Things finale shredding it on Master of Puppets and big thanks to Kirk Hammett on helping.”
Though Tye hasn’t yet commented on his involvement, Joseph Quinn – the individual who plays the MoP-shredding Eddie Munson – recently described the track as “the perfect song” for the show’s finale.
Quinn also revealed that heavy metal guitarist Aidan Fisher acted as his body double for the scene, ensuring that the fingering was believable to the more eagle-eyed viewers.
“I've been playing guitars since I was a kid, fortunately, but by no means have I kept it up the whole time,” he said. “I'm an actor, not a heavy metal guitarist. So I let this brilliant guitarist, Aidan, take care of the more complex fingering.”
Stranger Things is nothing if not a viral moment-making machine. Thanks to a particularly tense set piece in episode four that features Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill, the track has experienced a resurgence of stratospheric proportions, having skyrocketed to top of the charts.
The song – which has been the subject of a number of guitar-led covers – has reportedly earned Bush $2.3 million dollars since its inclusion in the Netflix show’s fourth season.
