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“Creeping Death”
Single by Metallica from the album Ride the Lightning
B-side	"Am I Evil?" "Blitzkrieg"
Released	1984
Format	EP
Recorded	September - July 1984 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	6:36
Label	Vertigo Records
Writer(s)	Kirk Hammett James Hetfield Cliff Burton Lars Ulrich
Producer	Metallica
Metallica singles chronology
"Fade to Black" (1984) "Creeping Death" (1984) "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1985)

"Creeping Death" is a song by Metallica and is the seventh track on their 1984 album Ride the Lightning. Written from the perspective of the Angel of Death it describes the Plague of the Firstborn (Exodus 12:29). "Creeping Death" is 6 minutes and 36 seconds long and is also Metallica's most frequently played song, having been played over 1100 times since 1983, more than any other Metallica song.¹ It stands as a classic example of the band's thrash style, albeit slower than the Kill 'Em All material. The middle section, based around ominous chants of "Die!" set to a perilous phrygian-mode chord progression, is a fan participation staple during Metallica shows.

It was released as a single in 1984 on the Music for Nations label in the UK and France. The B-sides were the cover songs "Am I Evil?" (originally by Diamond Head) and "Blitzkrieg" (originally by Blitzkrieg). Together these covers were known as Garage Days Revisited, which set the stage for Metallica's next cover record, the Garage Days Re-Revisited EP.

Inspiration

The band was inspired for the song by the second half of the film The Ten Commandments, which is based upon the Bible tale of the plagues which were bestowed upon the Egyptians. When they watched the film, bassist Cliff Burton remarked "Whoa - it's like creeping death," a phrase which the other members took a liking to, so they put it as the song title.²

Plague mentions

Throughout the song, there is mention of more of the ten plagues. In the second verse, four of the ten plagues are mentioned:

Blood, Running red and strong, down the Nile (The first of the ten, water turned to blood)

Plague (This line might refer to the 5th plague, disease of livestock)

Darkness three days long, (The ninth of the ten, the sun was blocked for three days)

hail to fire (The seventh of the ten, burning hail fell from the sky).

It also mentions God in the second verse as well, with "bush of fire." And in the story, Moses sees God in the form of a burning bush.

Live versions

Burton can be heard roaring the backing vocals during the third chorus, as well as during the bridge (screaming mother fucker in the middle was very common). When Jason Newsted joined the band, he often sang the third chorus alone in live performances, as well as the first word of every line.

Song origin

The middle section of the song was originally written by lead guitarist Kirk Hammett's former band Exodus. Exodus called the song "Die By His Hand", because of the bridge, where they sang "Die by his hand". (Metallica instead sings "Die by my hand", due to the song being in the view of the final plague) The song was recorded and released by Exodus as a demo, but never appeared on any album.³

Track listing

Side A:

1. "Creeping Death" (06:36)

Side B:

1. "Am I Evil?" (07:45)
2. "Blitzkrieg" (03:36)

Covers

• Plays Metallica by Four Cellos by Apocalyptica
• During Ozzfest 2002 by Drowning Pool
• Higher Voltage!: Another Brief History of Rock by (Bullet for My Valentine)
• During Ozzfest 2007 by The Showdown
• Screamo band Hiretsukan
• Tigertailz on their Banzai album
• Dubai Desert Rock 2005 by Machine Head and Sepultura
• By Dark Angel on the Metallica tribute album Metallic Attack: Metallica - The Ultimate Tribute
• Bullet For My Valentine have covered this song numerous times during their live shows

Appearances in popular culture

"Creeping Death" was featured in an episode of the MTV show Wildboyz.

References

1. ^ Metlists, Inc
2. ^ METALLICA - Encyclopedia Metallica - Song Info - Creeping Death
3. ^ METALLICA - Encyclopedia Metallica - Song Info - Creeping Death