C​:​\​EDIT AUTOEXEC​.​BAT

People need to sort their prejudices out; not every self-aware computer wants to annihilate or enslave humanity. Master Boot Record, for instance, is an allegedly sentient machine that just wants to express itself through music. Presumably finding inspiration from the mp3's of Genitorturers' Machine Love it found on its harddrive, Master Boot Record uses an array of drum machines and spiky waveforms to create fully-synthesized metal ensembles like C:\EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT. So if you consider yourself a metal purist, the only winning move is not to play this album.

But even those tolerant of innovation may find things intimidating at first. The soulless, mechanical buzz of harmonizing sawtooth synthesizers isn't exactly the warmest of welcomes. Though progressions typically implement an ordinary time signature and a logical sequence of minor chords, there's a sinister atmosphere looming over compositions. I have the utmost confidence that soullessness and isolation were the desired effects, and Master Boot Record absolutely nails it. This album is terrifying as a result, seeming so lacking in human qualities that you almost start to believe the artists' claims: maybe these songs really weren't of human creation.

But something this album doesn't lack is catchy arpeggios dancing atop savagely thick powerchords. Particularly notable in 'PROMPT $P$G', there's an uncanny juxtaposition between capricious classical leads and bellowing, sledgehammer industrial metal riffs. You can possess very little programming knowledge and still surmise 'SET SOUND=C:\CLASSICAL' provides the best example of this unlikely hybrid. I suppose it's fair to say Master Boot Record could be summarized as ambient dungeon synth on steroids.

It bears mentioning this album is influenced by electronica to a much greater extent than later albums like C:\CHKDSK /F, which made the wise decision to align its logarithms more with metal. This results in a robotic nature unsympathetically lacking in variety and dragging on for a little while longer than I'm comfortable with. With only the occasional galloping riff in a bridge or refrain to break up the monotony, C:\EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT can be an exhausting listen from beginning to end.

But if you're in the mood for something different, I would heartily recommend checking out anything in Master Boot Record's discography, or perhaps more accurately, directory. C:\EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT exceeds expectations for electronica, and at very least meets expectations for metal. Didn't do so hot on the Voight-Kampff test, though.