ALBUM REVIEW: Hardwarez – Master Boot Record
Since seemingly emerging out of some long-forgotten LAN party back in 2016, MASTER BOOT RECORD – the synth metal project web-masterminded by Victor Love – has successfully carved out a unique sonic niche. On the surface, MASTER BOOT RECORD specialises in the soundscapes of MS DOS bleeps, screeching chiptune and the cyber squelch of keygen programs (…ahem, not that any of us have any idea what those sound like).
But musically, MASTER BOOT RECORD owes more to the dominating heft and aggression of metal, while weaving in the virtuosity and melodic sensibilities of classical. Compelling though it is, it’s also a harsh and abrasive setup that could wear a little thin after a while. Each new MASTER BOOT RECORD album feels like another expansion pack for the outfit and an incremental shift towards the project’s ultimate form. Hardwarez, Love’s third release under the wing of Metal Blade (following on from 2022’s Personal Computer), sees MASTER BOOT RECORD edge ever closer to its ultimate form.
Opening track BIOS is MASTER BOOT RECORD at its best. Although it starts on familiar footing with the buzz of synthesised guitars, there’s an immediately noticeable shift in the band’s production. Rarely a vehicle for live instruments, the programmed drums somehow feel bigger and more lifelike than before. The real game changer though is the addition of actual guitars, their warmth providing some organic weight to the otherwise cold musical machinery. BIOS rhythmically pummels along before peaking with keygen-meets-neoclassical synth leads. As the leads spiral wildly, it’s as if Malmsteem himself was trying to pirate Unreal Tournament. BIOS certainly sets the scene for an album that plays fast and loose with the confines of genres.
MOBO picks up the neoclassical baton, its opening guitar and key leads sounding like a cyber-baroque nightmare. Through dungeon synths and slow churning riffs, MOBO somehow manages to marry atmospheric EDM keyboards, sparkly chiptune melodies and big metallic rhythms as if they were a natural fit. CPU bolts in the other direction, leaning hard in to metal territory thanks to its chunky djent-infused staccato rhythms and pixellated thrash assault. Mercifully, follow up GPU slows things right down, its more contemplative tone slowly building up to an almost operatic climax.
Across MASTER BOOT RECORD’s discography, it’s clear that Love wears his influences on his sleeve. Hardwarez doesn’t buck that trend, but it does show how well Love can completely transform and recontextualise those influences. On the one hand, you have allusions to metal old and new. A significant portion of RAM feels pulled out of the JUDAS PRIEST playbook in terms of writing. But the chunky guitars are given a cold, artificial sheen before guitar and synth leads entwine and become something more starry-eyed and euphoric.
HDD’s riffing has a whiff of MASTODON to it, but is completely transmuted by the reverb-drenched keyboard leads running rampant over the top. Elsewhere, early 1990s video games also clearly leave an imprint across Hardwarez. The tentative synthetic bass and spinning melodies of FDD wouldn’t sound out of place in Snatcher and PSU may as well be an unused Castlevania cut thanks to its haunting rhythm patches.
By the time Hardwarez begins to draw to a close, the retro-infused sonic assault does start to feel a little played out however. Thankfully, closer CASE is one of the record’s more direct tracks, satisfyingly concluding Hardwarez with a slab of straight-for-the-jugular cyberpunk metal.
What makes MASTER BOOT RECORD so fascinating is that it takes sounds and aural textures that are intimately familiar to many of its listeners – the crackle of old school tech and video games, the relentless chug of metal and the sweeping drama of classical music – and finds a way to curate and reform it in to something new. Like masterful patchwork code, Hardwarez is the remixed result of both nostalgia and the unknown combined to create something hugely unique.
It sees MASTER BOOT RECORD continue to almost begrudgingly move forward by unapologetically pulling in even more tech from the past to further bolster its programming. Those familiar with MASTER BOOT RECORD will roughly know what to expect, but Hardwarez feels like the most robust version of the band yet. It might not be a world away from the albums that came before it, but Hardwarez is the most refined version of MASTER BOOT RECORD yet.
Rating: 8/10
Hardwarez is out now via Metal Blade Records.
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