Forced Fed Enlightenment (Welkin Records)

 A Million Dead Birds Laughing (AMDBL) is an experimental, brutal and bizarre technical Grindcore experiment formed in 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. The band formed by AZ (vocals), BB (guitars), SA (bass) and DT (drums), delivers at “Forced Fed Enlightenment”, the band’s first official release, thirteen brutal, aggressive and excellently executed tracks. The music on this album is based over mathematically calculated discharges of technical Death Metal viciousness, full of aggressive and precise guitars, powerful and deep bass lines and an extremely accurate drumming, all these complemented by visceral Grindcore styled short blasting compositions, and a brutal modern sounding groove. The vocal style here is remarkable; using screams, grunts, shrieks and zombified voices, AZ is capable to add an extra dose of weirdness and variety to this yet bizarre and eclectic work, which combined with an uncommon sense of melody makes of this album an interestingly original and highly headbangable piece of Metal. The production of “Forced Fed Enlightenment” is absolutely powerful and clear sounding, just as the whole technical proposal requires, while the album’s artwork is very interesting as well, featuring some nice comic-looking drawing along with the lyrics. The entire presentation seems to be carefully created in order to accurately complement and reflect the band’s bizarre and powerful style, you just have to check out the cover art to know what I’m referring to… Overall “Forced Fed Enlightenment” is a very impressive release, a very solid debut that will catch the attention of anyone into the brutal, experimental and extreme Metal, so if you’re looking for Grindcore madness, Death Metal technique and Experimental originality in a single package, you will find at this record and interesting piece worthy of attention… (AP)