"Orion" is a song by the American heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Metallica

Metallica

Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

. It is the seventh track and is the only instrumental from its third studio album, Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets

-Personnel:Metallica* James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar on track 1, first solo on tracks 2 and 7* Cliff Burton – bass, backing vocals* Lars Ulrich – drums* Kirk Hammett – lead guitarProduction...

(1986). The song features bassist Cliff Burton

Cliff Burton

Clifford Lee "Cliff" Burton was an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the American heavy metal band Metallica....

 in his "lead bass" approach, meaning he plays his bass guitar in a prominent and melodic role in addition to holding down the rhytmic and harmonic foundation. It contains two bass solos, which are often mistaken for guitar.

It was named after the star constellation, Orion

Orion (constellation)

Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...

, due to the song’s spacey sounding bridge. "Orion" was played over a speaker at Burton's funeral.

Structure

The song is more progressive than the band’s previous work.
There are three main parts of the song: the heavy beginning, the spacey interlude, and the ending recapitulation that brings back the heaviness. The song features several solos:

• a bass solo by Cliff Burton
  Cliff Burton
  Clifford Lee "Cliff" Burton was an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the American heavy metal band Metallica....
  
   (1:42 - 2:12)
• a guitar solo by James Hetfield
  James Hetfield
  James Alan Hetfield is the rhythm guitarist, co-founder, main songwriter, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler,...
  
   (2:57 - 3:44)
• another one by Kirk Hammett
  Kirk Hammett
  Kirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stones list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
  
   (6:22 - 6:35), leading in the second bass solo (6:35 - 6:54)
• and the last by Hammett (7:02 - 7:32)

Covers

• The song was covered by the acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela
  Rodrigo y Gabriela
  Rodrigo y Gabriela , also known as "El Rodri y La Gabi", are a Mexican musical duo who specialize in playing fast, rhythmic acoustic guitars...
  
   on their self titled album
  Rodrigo y Gabriela (album)
  -Personnel:Rodrigo y Gabriela*Rodrigo Sánchez – acoustic guitar*Gabriela Quintero – acoustic guitarAdditional performer*Roby Lakatos – violin on "Ixtapa"Production*Produced by John Leckie and Rodrigo y Gabriela*Mixed by John Leckie...
  
  
• Mastodon
• Dream Theater