Creeping Death

"Creeping Death"
Single by Metallica
from the album Ride the Lightning
B-side	"Am I Evil?" "Blitzkrieg"
Released	November 23, 1984
Format	CD single, Cassette, Vinyl
Recorded	September 1983 – July 1984 at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	6:36
Label	Megaforce, Elektra
Writer(s)	James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett
Producer	Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen
Metallica singles chronology
"Jump in the Fire" (1984) "Creeping Death" (1984) "Master of Puppets" (1986)
Music sample Creeping Death

"Creeping Death" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as the only single from their second album, Ride the Lightning. Written from the perspective of the angel of death, it describes the Plague of the Death of the Firstborn (Exodus 12:29).^{[citation needed]} One of Metallica's most frequently performed songs, it has been played live 1,373 times, second only to "Master of Puppets", at 1,422), it has occasionally been used on various tours as the opening song of the band's set. It stands as a classic example of the band's thrash style, albeit slower than the material on their first album, Kill 'Em All. The song's middle section, based around ominous chants of "Die!" set to a phrygian mode chord progression, is a fan participation staple during Metallica shows.

The single was released through Music for Nations 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 album, The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited EP.

The artwork was done by Alvin Petty. The logo and the song's title were added with a plastic layover to the existing artwork. Kirk Hammett had seen the picture hanging up at Petty's house and remarked that it would be perfect for the single and picture-disk that were about to be finished.

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. While watching a scene in which one of the plagues kills every Egyptian first-born child, Cliff Burton remarked "Whoa – it's like creeping death." The band liked the sound of "creeping death" and decided to write a song about the plagues, with the phrase as its title.

Biblical references

The song is being told from the point of view of the Angel of Death as summoned by Moses,^{[citation needed]} the leader of the Hebrews in Egypt and also mentioned dialogues he has with God. Throughout the song, some of the ten plagues are mentioned, all from the story of the "Hagadah", The Passover exodus. Moses repeatedly demanded from Pharaoh to set the Hebrew slaves free from Egypt, famously known as "Let my people go" and insisted he was sent by God, to the promised land of Cannan (For the last 400 years the Hebrew people lived in the Goshen region of Egypt "Land of Goshen" and were made slaves of the Pharaohs), which wouldn't be affected by the plague (Exodus 8:22-23). To prove his point and persuade Pharaoh as Pharaoh refused to do, Moses, guided by God, laid ten strikes on the Egyptians. The ten strikes:

• To kill the first born Pharaoh's son: The tenth and most severe strike — The God of Israel killed every firstborn Egyptian that was a boy (In reference to the Pharaoh's order to throw every Hebrew firstborn into the Nile). One such child was the Pharaoh's firstborn
• I will be with thee, bush of fire: Refers to God speaking to Moses through a burning bush.
• Blood, Running red and strong, down the Nile: The first of the ten plagues, water of the Nile turned to blood
• Plague: This line refers to any of the ten plagues
• 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
• Blood, lamb's blood painted door; I shall pass: Passover; the night God slew the firstborns of Egyptian families. The Hebrews were warned earlier by Moses to paint the doorpost with lamb blood so God would pass over their houses and not kill their sons (this is actually why the holiday is called Passover).

Live versions

There are a great deal of group-assisted vocals in "Creeping Death"; the song often requires more than one vocalist performing at a time. The song is also often played at a much higher tempo than the studio version. On live recordings made before his death, Burton can be heard "roaring" the backing vocals during the third chorus, as well as during the bridge. When Jason Newsted joined Metallica, he often sang the third chorus alone in live performances. When Newsted left the band and Robert Trujillo replaced him, the third chorus was usually sung by the crowd.

During the song's breakdown, audience members are encouraged to chant "Die!" to the rhythm of the song, and the band normally drops out until only the bass guitar and drums remain, this continues for a few bars, then James Hetfield sings the lyrics.

Previous iterations

The middle section of the "Creeping Death" was originally written by Hammett while he was in Exodus. The song was called "Die by His Hand" and had been part of the Exodus setlist for live shows, but was never used on any Exodus albums.

Track listing

International single
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Creeping Death"	James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Cliff Burton	6:36
2.	"Am I Evil?"	Sean Harris, Brian Tatler	7:49
3.	"Blitzkrieg"	Ian Jones, Jim Sirotto, Brian Ross	3:35
Total length:			18:03

Creeping Death/Jump in the Fire EP
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Creeping Death"	James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Cliff Burton	6:36
2.	"Am I Evil?"	Sean Harris, Brian Tatler	7:49
3.	"Blitzkrieg"	Ian Jones, Jim Sirotto, Brian Ross	3:35
4.	"Jump in the Fire"	Hetfield, Ulrich, Dave Mustaine	4:41
5.	"Seek & Destroy" (Live)	Hetfield, Ulrich	7:04
6.	"Phantom Lord" (Live)	Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine	4:52

Covers

• New Jersey Hardcore band Shattered Realm includes a cover of "Creeping Death" on the reissue of their 2002 album Broken Ties Spoken Lies.
• Minnesota metalcore band Disembodied includes a cover of "Creeping Death" on their 2010 rarities collection Psalms of Sheol.
• 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. They have also covered this song numerous times during their live shows, as well as recording a cover for their Scream Aim Fire album.
• 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.
• By Edge of Spirit on the heavy metal tribute album Stand Proud! III.
• By Eyes of the Dead on their EP Let's Play Drink the Beer!!
• On the Slipknot DVD Voliminal: Inside the Nine, Joey Jordison can be seen playing the song with Metallica at Download 2004, where Lars Ulrich was too ill to play.
• Stormlord covers the song on their live EP The Curse of Medusa.
• Florida death metal band Infernaeon on their 2010 full-length album Genesis to Nemesis.
• Kansas City melodic metal band At the Left Hand of God has covered it during live shows.
• Christian Ska band The O.C. Supertones' song Supertones Strike Back closely resembles in its beginning, the first nineteen seconds of this song.

In popular culture

The song was featured in an episode of the MTV show Wildboyz.^{[citation needed]}

"Creeping Death" is featured as a playable track in Guitar Hero: Metallica.

It ranked at #1 on the Guitar World top 100 greatest Metallica songs.

"Creeping Death" is the name of an ability performed by Mordekaiser in the game League of Legends.

It is also an assignment for the L96 in Battlefield 3.

Personnel

• James Hetfield – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
• Cliff Burton – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Lars Ulrich – drums

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics