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Metallica - Creeping Death - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - Creeping Death guitar tab video
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Ride The Lightning (Deluxe Remaster) album cover
Ride The Lightning (Deluxe Remaster)
1984 6:36
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Thrash Metal 1984 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Creeping Death

Few Metallica riffs demand as much right-hand discipline as the opening of "Creeping Death." The main riff is built on aggressive palm-muted downpicking in E minor, and keeping that technique tight at full speed is the central challenge. Your picking hand will tire quickly if your technique is inefficient, so isolate the riff with the Practice Toolbar, loop it slowed down, and gradually push the tempo only once your palm mute stays clean and consistent. The song also features one of thrash metal's most crowd-pleasing breakdowns, the "Die by my hand" section, where the chord hits need to land with real authority and precise rhythmic locking between guitar and drums. The verse riff shifts between chunky muted chugs and open power chords, so you need to control the transition without losing the momentum. Metallica built this track on 1984's "Ride the Lightning," and the relentless forward drive of the arrangement leaves no room to fake the picking stamina it requires.

  • The main riff relies on sustained downpicking with heavy palm muting in E minor, making right-hand endurance the primary technical hurdle.
  • The breakdown section uses simple, syncopated power chord stabs that are easy to learn but must be locked tightly to the kick drum to sound correct.
  • Practising the verse riff at reduced speed with the Practice Toolbar helps build the palm-mute consistency needed before pushing toward full tempo.

How to Play Creeping Death

The song moves through: Intro, Interlude, Break, Verse, Chorus, Solo, Bridge, Outro 2, Outro 3, Outro 4, Outro 5.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 101 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The main challenge here is sustaining consistent, tight downpicking through the verse riff at 101 bpm without losing attack or clarity, since Hetfield's rhythm tone depends entirely on that controlled, percussive picking pressure rather than any strumming looseness. Begin by isolating the intro and verse riffs, focusing on muting precision so the palm mute releases land exactly on beat. The breakdown section near the outro, where live crowds chant along, uses a slower repeated riff that is actually a good warm-up for the faster verse sections, so consider looping it first to lock in the picking motion. The most common pitfall is letting the wrist tire mid-song and drifting into hybrid picking without realizing it, which immediately softens the thrash attack the song requires.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 101 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Kirk Hammett's vintage 1959 'Greeny' Les Paul Standard delivers warmer, more dynamic PAF-style tones that contrast his EMG-equipped ESP guitars, adding organic sustain to his lead work. This guitar's traditional construction gives his solos a thicker, less compressed character than his signature models.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While not Hammett's primary choice, the Les Paul Custom shares the Les Paul's warm PAF pickup character and thick body resonance, offering heavier players an alternative to Strat-style designs for achieving Metallica's crushing rhythm tones.

Gibson Explorer
Guitar

Gibson Explorer

James Hetfield's early Gibson Explorer established his signature angular shape and thick body tone, delivering the aggressive midrange attack essential to Metallica's crushing rhythm style before his ESP signature models became his primary tool.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

Kirk Hammett's Dual Rectifier heads provide the high-gain, midrange-forward aggression that lets his solos cut through Hetfield's scooped rhythm tone, creating definition and clarity in Metallica's dense wall of distortion.

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Hetfield's bridge EMG 81 delivers the hot, compressed output with tight low-end that defines Metallica's palm-muted riffs, the ceramic magnet and active preamp cutting through heavy arrangements with focused, aggressive attack.

EMG 60
Pickup

EMG 60

Both guitarists use the neck EMG 60 for warmer, more articulate rhythm tones and smoother lead voicings, balancing the 81's aggression with clearer note definition across Metallica's dense arrangements.

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