The slow but explosive build of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" just seems ready made to be a sports anthem, which is why it's been part of Virginia Tech's college football tradition for years. But how much does the band's entrance theme rile up the crowd? Well, this weekend's entrance for the home opener actually registered on seismographs.

While not technically earthquake level, it was pretty easy to spot exactly when the football-hungry fans erupted to Metallica's powerful classic during the match-up of the hometown Hokies against the North Carolina Tar Heels in a seismograph reading shared by College Football Twitter on Reddit.

As is tradition, the Hokies football team waits in the tunnel, allowing the Metallica opening to build to a crescendo before entering the football field, typically arriving as the crowd absolutely lose their minds.

The song started being played regularly at games in 2000, but the tradition started a year later when one of the team's band members started jumping around as the song played, soon joined by his colleagues and the energy then started to spread to the audience. It's also been used by the Hokies' basketball team.

In this case, it was the Hokies home opener and with fans not able to see a game in person in over a year, the 65,000 strong audience at Lane Stadium was more than ready to let off some steam. The Hokies went on to upset the nationally ranked Tar Heels 17-10.

"Enter Sandman" first appeared on Metallica's 1991 self-titled "Black" album, becoming an MTV hit and catapulting the metal band into the mainstream. The song crossed over to hit No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and has become a staple for the group as arguably their biggest song.

Virginia Tech's Crowd During Metallica's "Enter Sandman" Entry (Sept. 3, 2021)

Every Metallica Song Ranked

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