It’s kind of wild that this is already the 10th anniversary of Victor Love’s Master Boot Record (MBR), with as many (if not more) full-length releases under the name. Across these 10 years, MBR has earned a cult following and carved out a rock-solid niche of floppy synth savagery, in tandem with his resplendent side-project Keygen Church, which preaches a biblical slice of digital blasphemy. Love sits atop this niche within the metal space, deservedly positioned as the premier provider of digitized metal. With this legacy in mind, Computer Metal posits a curious thesis statement. As Love tells it, Computer Metal aims to legitimize and encompass this titular genre, which various internet comments have colloquially referred to MBR in the past, and provide a codex, of sorts, of what this newly codified genre is and represents; simply put, in his words: “Humans do humans. Machines do machines.”

For those uninitiated in The Code, MBR play instrumental, crazy-high-energy metal with a neoclassical edge in the vein of Dragonforce or Stratovarius, all with digitized instruments, warbling chiptunes and floppy synth drives. What stands out immediately and with blinding clarity about Computer Metal is the inclusion of real guitars. Now, guitars are no stranger to the MBR canon; they’ve long been a key component of live performances, and the previous album Hardwarez, which I adore, was the first studio album to begin using them.¹ Even Keygen Church uses actual pianos in tandem with the floppy synths, and it rules. However, in Computer Metal the guitars are noticeably dominant, seizing sonic control over the great majority of the riffwork. As a fan it took some getting used to, but the important thing is whether or not the songwriting makes clever use of the contrasting instruments in a way that sells the premise of the album.

Surprisingly, Computer Metal falters in this regard. Listen to “Voodoo2,” “Turbo Button,” “Dot Matrix” throw a dart at the tracklist and you’ll find the guitars and floppy synths lack ample space to shine next to or because of each other. Especially in “Voodoo2;” for all its heavy chugging, there’s so little distinction in character between the guitars and floppy synths to the point it becomes needlessly hard to differentiate them. However, the guitars aren’t the true crux of the issue with Computer Metal. Even if this was a traditional floppy-synth-only record, the songwriting on a basic level nevertheless feels less vivid, less vicious, resulting in slightly toothless songs across the board that are rarely able to truly excite. “Firmware” in particular is a miss for me, with weaker, repetitive riffwork bookended by misplaced metalcore chugs, as well as the forgettable “Socket 7” which keeps returning to this high-pitched, grating keyboard melody. Even “Boot Sector,” a “Stratosphere” style neoclassical shred song which, on paper, sounds like a slam fucking dunk in MBR’s hands, feels off. It never quite gets its feet off the ground and overstays its welcome just a touch. It is some genuinely good guitar work, though.

Credit where it’s due, there is some solid material in Computer Metal. Honestly, there always is with Victor Love. He has a keen ear for some slick riffs and melodies, and Computer Metal is no exception. “Dot Matrix” tears out the gate with nice n’ meaty riffs, the melodies of “Command Prompt” ebb and flow into a thrilling climax, and “Plug and Play” is a game-soundtrack-type romp that’s fun and catchy. My personal favorite is “CRT,” which does make good use of the interplay between guitars and synths for a nice Khonsu-esque² beat, and, together with the following “Ctrl + Alt + Del,” ends the album on a high note. But my point above still stands. Even the high points of Computer Metal aren’t terribly stimulating, inviting comparison to better works (Truthfully, “Dot Matrix” does feel a sliver like a weaker rehash of “CPU”) and rarely inspiring enthusiasm to start the album again once it’s finished.

It’s strange that an album that purports to represent the legitimization of its appointed genre is a less effective example than the band’s own prior output. It’s also strange that the incorporation of live guitars feels like a misfire in Computer Metal when they worked so well in Hardwarez. It makes for an album that feels just a touch misaligned, like code that’s incorrectly phrased or what have you. But in the end, if you Praise The Code, then I surmise you’ll still find some fun within Computer Metal, I sure did despite my harping. 10 years and even more full-length albums in, not every new MBR release is going to blow your mind, and honestly that’s okay.

Rating: Mixed
Format Reviewed: mp³ | DR: ⁴
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: Official | Bandcamp | The Code works in mysterious ways
Releases Worldwide: October 30th, 2026

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