With over 10 years (and counting) as an IT professional, I was definitely intrigued when combing the albums to review here at TOTD, and saw one called Master Boot Record.  I was like “wait a second (as my IT nerd-dom kicked in)… that’s an interesting name for a band.”  Without reading too much I previewed the first track and was intrigued to say the least and decided to give it a shot.

Master Boot Record is the brainchild of Italian solo artist Vittori D’Amore, and here’s the kicker: ALL of the music is synthesized, from the guitars to the drums (there’s no vocals).  I’m not usually a fan of instrumental music, but this one has something about it that just grabs you.  Maybe it’s due to the fact that I got into EDM a bit a few years ago (Alan Walker is amazing) that could be a reason for what grabbed me here, but I’m not totally sure.

The music is a mish-mash of styles, with thrash metal, djent, and old school heavy metal making its presence felt.  Opening track “ANSI.SYS” has almost a video game type feel to it, where “DISPLAY.SYS” has an opening “riff” that sounds like it’s right out of Metallica’s early days.  CHKDSK.EXE starts out with a sound that would be right at home on a Dragonforce album (notice the pattern yet with song names?).  Almost all of the songs are backed with interesting synths and even some orchestral elements to further shake up this genre-bending metal salad.  The songs are each around 5-10 minutes, so there is a lot going on with the whole album clocking in at 68 minutes.

He’s been honing his craft since 2016, and this is his debut on the mighty Metal Blade records so his notoriety should only increase.  If your ears are looking for something different, track this one down.  It surprised the heck out of me. 

[Visit the band's website]

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