10 Best Free Bandcamp Downloads #15 (All LPs/EPs): Verdun, Austerity Program, In Tears, Holy Pinto, Malevich

Welcome to the 15th installment of The Bad Penny‘s Bandcamp Freebie series, in which we handpick our favorite free songs on the platform and dish them up for your consumption. We deserve lotsa high-fives this time around, because all 10 picks are full-lengths – of high quality, of course – which makes us the most benevolent music outlet on the website. And which, in turns, explains we’re so financially destitute there needs to be a new phrase for it.

(Note: If you’re financially capable of supporting any of these artists and/or labels, please consider doing so.)

1. Verdun – Abyssal Womb

You likely won’t remember – because it’d be weird if you did – that a Verdun song was feature on a compilation issued by our favorite most-generous record label, Transcending Obscurity, in January of this year. If you remember liking that song – we’ll say it again, you must have some kind of brain disorder or you’re wicked smaht, because we have zero recollection of it ourselves – then download Abyssal Womb immediately. They’re French. They traffic in the scummiest strains of metal: doom, blackened sludge, all the components of a healthy diet of despicable debris for the ears. Why aren’t you listening yet.

2. The Austerity Program – Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn

Yours truly interviewed The Austerity Program for Treble 13 months ago, and it was a good time. The better man participating in the conversations was fast-talking Justin Foley, one-half of the noise-rock duo, who works full-time as a union organizer as well. The band just posted their 2010 record, Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn, for free on Bandcamp. It’s the latest sign that Foley and his bandmate, bassist Thad Calabrese, are far more badass than the rest of us heathens ever will be.

3. Variant Cause – Hit Songs Vol. 1

Variant Cause are one of those bands that were so cool it’s like their speed was set to hyperdrive and we could only marvel at them zooming over our heads like that Empire Strikes Back scene in which Han, Leia, Chewy and C-3P-lame-0 witness something like that happening. Spokane’s Variant Cause were a revered anti-grunge band before the movement even started in Seattle; somewhat ironically, the most important grunge studio wizard, Jack Endino, has worked his magic on these Variant Cause tracks, and the results are righteous.

4. In Tears – Red Becomes You

An 87-minute, seven-song black-metal album interwoven with deeply disturbing spoken-word passages and lyrics that make Robert Smith look like Captain Kangaroo. You might want to leave emergency contact info before you embark upon listening to this release; it’ll coat your marrow with harrow.

5. Holy Pinto – Stenography EP

You guys seemed to enjoy our exclusive premiere of Holy Pinto’s “One Tattoo” last week and the brief chat with the indie-pop artist, who grew up in Canterbury, England, and now lives in Milwaukee. Stenography came out 11 years ago, but it’s free, so will that make you any less inclined to download it? We’re watching …

6. Your Trip Is Short – Our Trip Is Short Vol. 9: In & Out of the Garden

We’ll let the people who put this comp together do the explaining: “Your Trip Is Short initially started in 2015 as a Facebook group for Grateful Dead and Phish fans from various experimental music scenes to congregate and share laughs and love for some of our favorite bands. As Facebook has waned and our friendships have become less social media-driven, we’ve spread out to all corners of the world and the world wide web, where we are waiting to be your friend. Released every year since 2017 on December 28th, the Our Trip Is Short compilation series showcases a natural network of experimental-minded jam-band fans who actively strive to push the boundaries of both the Phish and the Grateful Dead canons. … Throughout the years, tracks have traversed through styles including but not limited to bizarro electronics, ambient / drone, audio collage / plunderphonics, spoken word / comedy, dub reggae, chiptune, and crunchy beats, balanced out by more traditional song-oriented approaches and live improvisations.”

7. Oceanlord – Demo

It’s the sixth anniversary of the release of this ripping two-song dark-psych release, but it sounds as good now as it would have back then. So we assume; we didn’t actually hear it for the first time till now. Oceanlord, a Melbourne project that refers to itself as “stoner gloom rock” (makes sense), is still around. In fact, Oceanlord just squeezed out another pay-what-you-want song, “Octo Necro,” last month.

8. Hässlig/Opresija – Kali Yuga Aural Terror

Spanish black-metal stalwarts Hässlig joined forces with Croatian black-metal punks Opresija for this split LP, which is so expertly crafted to drain you of all hope in humanity or anything else that there’s a money-back guarantee attached to this pay-what-you-want release.

9. haha Laughing – As My Body Betrays Me

haha Laughing (who are pictured above) are part rap group and part noise punks – no joke!!! It’s been awfully tough for musicians to get people to laugh and enjoy their music at the same time, ever since the tragic demise of Ted Nugent (he’s dead, right?), but this band gives it a pretty good shot.

10. Malevich – Our Hollow

Malevich are the bees’ knees as far as we’re concerned. Not only did they pay a hefty price after standing up for a just cause (opposing Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza), the blackened post-death metal band from Atlanta spoke with us about that debacle and much more in our On Tyranny series. If there is an archetypal band that The Bad Penny champions, it’s Malevich. Don’t just download their 2019 LP, Our Hollow, gratis; buy their other records, go to their shows, spread the word about them, send them edible arrangements and gift cards. If bands like Malevich aren’t what we want our music heroes to be, then what’s all this for?

If you’re still hungry for more free music, below are the previous installments of The Bad Penny‘s Bandcamp Freebies series. Beware that artists may have removed the “free download”option from some of their material since the publish of the corresponding Bandcamp Freebies installment.

This entry was posted on 06/28/2026 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Lists, MP3s with tags haha Laughing, Hässlig, Holy Pinto, In Tears, Malevich, Oceanlord, The Austerity Program, Variant Cause, Verdun, Your Trip Is Short. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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