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, bassist 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.
Read more about this topic: Creeping Death