Metallica - Creeping Death GUITAR ONLY

This is James Hetfield's and Kirk Hammett's guitar track for the song Creeping Death off of the album Ride The Lightning.

"Creeping Death" is a song made by the band 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 1,100 times since 1984, more than any other Metallica song.[1] 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.

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 of the band liked, prompting them to name the song after it.

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. At the end of third verse, Passover is 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 * Blood, lamb's blood painted door; I shall pass Passover; the night God slayed the first borns of Egyptian families

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

In the chorus, the lyric "To kill the first born Pharaoh's son" references the final plague, the death of the firstborn.

Live versions

Burton can be heard roaring the backing vocals during the third chorus, as well as during the bridge (screaming motherfucker 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. The song can be seen played by Joey Jordison on the Slipknot DVD Voliminal: Inside The Nine as one of the DVD's "rabbit hole" features.

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.

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[klb2000000]

Lol. You're all fucking fags ! Kirk Hammett wrote some of the most breath taking solos of all time. Every solos on KEM are absolutly fantastic. The RTL solo is just fucking awesome with the creeping death's one and trapped under ice contains freaking fast solos. The disposable heroes solo is quite one of my all time favorite, let's not forget the thing that should not be solo wich simply makes me jizz my freaking pants everytime I hear it ! Seriously I could go on like that forever. Kirk = GOD !

[leatherwings007]

for ppl who like to say that Kirk is over-rated: he may not be a technical wizard like some of the other shred guys out there like Paul Gilbert or whatever, but Hammett has some of the absolute most memorable solos and licks ever. Take Enter Sandman for example, it's not a technically difficult solo, but the phrasing and styling fits the song perfectly and is memorable. And for that, I think it puts him up there in the very top.

[ProShotEntertainment]

@klb2000000 no kurt= GOD!

[pONtosan100]

Good!

[roastbeast79]

Wow amazing

[ab1cdefghijklmnop]

@jewelfewel ...Motherfucker Die!

[lewipod]

F**kin Great man, thanks for putting this guitar track on youtube. Cheers!! It was very useful for really nailing the guitar tracks....Such a shame that idiots have to post such BullS*T comments on every guitar vid. Take care, Lewi

[jewelfewel]

DIE (DIE!) BY MY HAND I CREEP ACROSS THE LAND KILLING FIRST BORN MAN

[wolfpackjcp]

@Mordownick Master of Puppets is a fag song compared too Creeping Death -_- but, Master was a really good song too :D

[Masterofpuppets510]

@killcat25 real is better dude :) so you should say 2 people can't play this on real guitar

[killcat25]

2 peoples cant play this on GH

[Metalman9991000]

I just realized how even more badass Kirk Hammett is :D