Editing Creeping Death (section)

==Development==
[[Kirk Hammett]] wrote the guitar riff for the bridge section when he was 16 years old.<ref name="youtube.com">{{Cite web |title=Metallica's Kirk Hammett At Guitar Center |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mV64Ox_7ek  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/0mV64Ox_7ek| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|website=youtube.com | date=February 4, 2014 |access-date=June 3, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The middle section, with its ominous chants of "Die!" set to a [[Phrygian mode]] chord progression,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pillsbury |first=Glenn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oiJ5AwBwmyUC&q=creeping%2520death%2520phrygian&pg=PT185 |title=Damage Incorporated: Metallica and the Production of Musical Identity |date=September 5, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-09122-3 |language=en}}</ref> was originally written by Hammett while he was in [[Exodus (band)|Exodus]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Riffs That Shook The World #1: Metallica – Creeping Death |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/riffs-that-shook-the-world-1-metallica-creeping-death |date=August 28, 2014 |website=Metal Hammer Magazine |language=en |access-date=May 14, 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref name="encycmet.com" />

Metallica was inspired for the song by the second half of the film ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'', which is based on the Bible tale of the [[Plagues of Egypt]]. While watching the scene of the final plague killing every Egyptian first-born child, [[Cliff Burton]] remarked "Whoa – it's like creeping death", as the plague was represented by a fog rolling into the Pharaoh's palace. The band liked the sound of "creeping death" and decided to write a song about the plagues, with the phrase as its title.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/489633802 |title=Metallica : from the pages of Guitar world magazine |publisher=Backbeat Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-87930-970-1 |location=Milwaukee, Wis. |pages=163 |oclc=489633802}}</ref><ref name="encycmet.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srcreep.shtml |title=METALLICA - Encyclopedia Metallica - Song Info - Creeping Death |access-date=June 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314213627/http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srcreep.shtml |archive-date=March 14, 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

The single release's 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Creeping Death' – Story Behind the Song |url=https://ultimatemetallica.com/creeping-death-story-behind-the-song/ |last=Armstrong |first=Chuck |website=Ultimate Metallica |date=November 14, 2012 |language=en |access-date=May 10, 2020}}</ref>