Free song downloads are good. They are better than simply getting the chance to stream a new song, which requires you to be hooked up to your computer or some other device with a solid net connection. They sound better when you play them back, and you can carry them around with you so you can listen while you’re out and about doing whatever scintillating things you do while out and about, or even when you’re parked on the throne in the midst of an eye-watering bowel evacuation.

Yesterday I discovered three free song downloads from bands we like around here: Hypocrisy (Sweden), Graveworm (Italy), and Immolation (U.S.). The songs? We like them, too. Quite a lot, in fact. And the Immolation offering was a very pleasant surprise — while only one song was promised, the download link provides an entire EP of music, and it happens to be one of the best death metal releases of the year.

HYPOCRISY

On October 21, Nuclear Blast will release a new DVD/CD combo from Hypocrisy called Hell Over Sofia – 20 Years of Chaos and Confusion. The disc will contain film of the band’s February 27, 2010 concert at the Blue Box club in Sofia, Bulgaria — which Hypocrisy called “one of our best shows ever in our history” — as well as a 90-minite documentary about the band’s 20-year history. Yesterday, Nuclear Blast made available for free download (at this location) one of the live performance tracks — “Roswell 47”, from the band’s 1996 album, Abducted. Continue reading »