Nine Inch Nails Streaming ‘Hesitation Marks,’ Showcase Album Packaging

Nine Inch Nails will release their eighth album 'Hesitation Marks' on Sept. 3 -- that's next week! But to help feed the hunger for the new effort, the band is streaming the album in full and for free on iTunes so you can get an early taste. What a way to go into a holiday weekend, right?

Head on over to the iTunes to get your 'Hesitation Marks' on.

The band also shared a new teaser, which focuses on the 'Hesitation Marks' artwork and deluxe edition packaging. The clip is 53 seconds and creepy. It finds you navigating the album's visual components, set to some slow building tension via a serpentine snippet of music.

The audio sample is of album opener 'Eater of Dreams' and it's dark and delightfully eerie, like much of NIN's catalog. It's a slow build that's the sonic equivalent of being locked in a cabin in the woods with some ominous, unseen force hunting you down.

In a day and age where downloading has all but eviscerated the concept of album packaging and enjoying a record as full sensory experience, with an emphasis on the audio and the visual, Trent Reznor and co. are bringing back the visual element in a dark, artful and meaningful way.

Who's excited for new album? Did this preview of the packaging and the song stoke your Nine Inch Nails fire? And let us know in the comments section below what you think after checking out the album stream.