Watch Metallica celebrate 'Master Of Puppets' milestone on 'The Late Show'

Metallica appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Wednesday night to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its most groundbreaking album, Master of Puppets.

Metallica performed a slightly abridged version of the 1986 album's lead track, "Battery," leaving out the song's neo-classical introduction and going straight into its punishing main riff.

During his introduction, Colbert noted that Master of Puppets "had such an impact that it was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress."

The late-night performance was Metallica's second appearance on The Late Show in just four weeks; the band previously served as musical guest during Colbert's post-Super Bowl LV special episode.

Originally released on March 3, 1986, Master of Puppets was a revelation in the heavy metal sphere, with its thorough embrace of thrash metal brutality, progressive rock dynamism and Cold War protest.

The album was the band's last LP before the tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident in Sweden while the band was on tour supporting the album.

Last June, Metallica fans voted the album's title track as the band's greatest song of all time — beating out hit singles like "Enter Sandman," "Fade to Black" and "One."

Check out the band's performance of "Battery" via the player above!

This article was first published on iheart.com and is republished here with permission