-The Letter Black “Hanging On By a Thread” on AOL Radio Blog-

• For Today – “Devastator”
• My Epic – “Lower Still”
• War Of Ages – “Collapse”
• In The Midst Of Lions – “The Machine”
• A Hope For Home – “The Overman”
• Impending Doom – “Orphans”
• Call To Preserve – “Empty”
• A Plea For Purging – “Shiver”
• The Burial – “Demons Never Sleep”
• Onward To Olympas – “Sink Of Swim”
• As Hell Retreats – “Poor God”
• Wrench In The Works – “Project AK-47″

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Facedown Records, they’re one of the main Christian metal/hardcore/screamo/really-loud-and heavy-and-brutal-music labels in the market today.  Of course, they’ve released non-metal before (see My Epic), but generally, loud and brutal is the order of business.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to the sampler yet, so I can’t recommend any good songs, but if you like loud music, I’m sure you’ll find something that’ll be worth the download.  Enjoy!

-Facedown Records Summer Sampler on AltPress.com-

(Via @b_s_lynn on Twitter)

-Dustin Ruth’s Learn How To Love Someone on NoiseTrade-

• House of Heroes – “Elevator”
• Seabird – “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful”
• The Almost – “Hands”
• Rachel Lampa – “Avalanche”
• Jaymes Reunion – “Fine”
• The Letter Black – “Hanging On By a Thread”
• The Wellspring – “Put Up A Fight”

It’s all great music, though I’ve never heard of The Wellspring before, and couldn’t find much about them online.  Bruegger’s is offering all six songs for free on their Facebook page, though you do need to “like” the page before you can access them.  Check it out!

-Bruegger’s on Facebook-

Update:  Bruegger’s just added House of Heroes’ “Elevator” to their list of available songs, a song I definitely recommend. 

-Anberlin “Pray Tell” on Spin.com-

Stylistically, despite starting out as a side-project for a couple of the guys from Pillar, Stars Go Dim is no hard rock band.  They are decidedly in the adult alternative genre, with a little rock thrown in for fun, along the lines of Downhere, Lifehouse, or Kris Allen.  In fact, the band’s vocalist Chris Cleveland sounds quite a bit like the American Idol winner, which definitely isn’t a bad thing.  It’s pretty good stuff, though basically every song is about either love or heartbreak.  That being said, I’d say it’s worth checking out, particularly since it’s free.  Enjoy! 

-StarsGoDim.com-

Note: I remember seeing Stars Go Dim released a couple of Christmas songs for free last year, but I don’t remember where they available from.  Does anyone else know the link, assuming they’re still available?

Love Reality

-Charmaine “Run” on Air1 Radio-

Basically, Guvera is a music store that allows members to download any song they like from the site’s extensive catalog for free.  It’s a simple idea, really – you search and find a song you want to download, then click the “Download” button.  You’re then presented with a list of advertisers.  Pick one that offering a free download, and you’re taken to a promotional page where you can stream the song for free, and download it if you like, and that’s it.  Your song downloads right away, with no additional hoops.  To sweeten the deal, the songs I’ve gotten have been in 256 kbs DRM-free .mp3 files, which seems to be standard.  That’s equal or superior audio quality then most other music stores.

Of course, you can only get free downloads if there’s advertisers will to pay for it, which is the biggest restriction on the site.  The number of available downloads changes regularly (at the moment, I’ve got six free downloads available, a high for me – usually it’s between zero and two.)  When you sign up, you’re also required to fill out a short questionnaire about your interests to help Guvera match advertisers with you.  Still, considering that every single song you get is completely free, Guvera makes a fantastic alternative to iTunes for individual songs.

Guvera has an impressive song library as well – they’ve got a huge chunk of Tooth & Nail Record’s discography, including Solid State and BEC Records, from Aaron Sprinkle and Falling Up to Demon Hunter and Project 86, plus songs from the Happy Christmas and X series’.  They’ve got plenty of non-Nail artists as well, including Lifehouse, Amy Grant, Above the Golden State, David Crowder*Band, TobyMac, Chris Tomlin, Josh Wilson, Sanctus Real, Flyleaf, Newsboys, Paper Tongues, Switchfoot, 12 Stones, and The Rocket Summer, just to name a few.  To put it simply, there’s something for just about everybody.

In closing – I honestly can’t think of a single good reason not to sign up.  Between the selection, and the simplicity, Guvera just might be the best site for free music out there.  (Notice I said site – not blog.)    It’s just that good, and what few cons there are are easily outnumbered by the pros.  Absolutely worth checking out.

-Guvera.com-

Update: What songs are you going to be checking out?  I have my eye on Anberlin’s “Impossible” for my next download.

Stylistically, it’s folk music done extremely well.  Folk isn’t normally a genre I listen to, but I’ll make an exception for this.  Definitely worth checking out!

-Thad Cockrell To Be Loved on NoiseTrade-

Before I get to the free music, House of Heroes just released their brand new music video for “God Save The Foolish Kings” today, featuring guest vocals by Stephanie Smith.  The video was directed by Nathan Corrona of Dustbrand Films, who are also responsible for Sanctus Real’s “Forgiven”, Seabird’s “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful”, Flynn Adam’s “Dishes”, and Grits’ “Fly Away”, just to name a few.  You can watch “God Save The Foolish Kings” above, or if you prefer HD, check it out on YouTube here.

Pretty sweet, huh?  Well, I’ve got even more House of Heroes goodness for you:  The band is giving away their song “Independence Day for a Petty Thief” for free through FreeHoH.com, in return for one tweet.  In keeping with the band’s apparent theme for Suburba, it’s a rockin’ song about a young thief who breaks into homes on the 4th of July while everyone is out enjoying a fireworks display.  Good song.  Enjoy!

-FreeHoH.com-