Metallica announced on its website that every song from their upcoming album “Death Magnetic” will be made available as a download for "Guitar Hero III" and its sequel "Guitar Hero World Tour".

The tunes will be released on the same day when the album will be released to retail, according to the statement posted in the band’s website.

Two months ago, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich in an interview with Rolling Stones said that the famous rock band is watching closely the efforts made by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails to distribute their albums online.

Last year, the Brit group Radiohead offered their latest album, “In Rainbows” as a free download, and Nine Inch Nails are selling their latest four-volume album, Ghosts I-IV, through their website. The first nine tracks are offered for free.

"We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in 27 years or however long it takes for the next record, we'll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the internet," Ulrich said during the interview.

Last month, Guitar Hero’s creator, Activision, announced its plan to release sometime next year a version of the game based on the songs played by Metallica.

Guitar Hero: Metallica will feature Metallica’s full career from the early days to today’s global success and will present a play list with some of their most popular songs taken from their three decade-long career.