New Release Friday: Poppy's 'Negative Space' Breaks Boundaries and Cuts Deep

POPPY: EMPTY HANDS

SCORE: 79/100

Poppy's fifth metal album and seventh overall project showcases a more standardized sound for the vocalist, with a thick metal sound to pack just enough bite into the album; although it isn't her most sonically artistic, it is a striking metal album that showcases a great direction for her career from this point onwards. 

Negative Space transcends genre boundaries and showcases all sides of Poppy's artistry, with the sound of the album shifting tones and always reverting back to heavy riffs and incredibly high amounts of energy that keep the thirty-eight minute album feeling fluid and enjoyable. 

The guitar and drum work on the album are both respectively stunning, and Poppy's vocal range is one of the most impressive female fronts we currently have in metal - with a register that ranges from soft, stunningly controlled singing to a metallically sharp screaming caliber that is never once strained. The way that her vocals are overlaid with one another and made into something sharp as a blade is something few other singers could accomplish, and her voice is the sealing point for the album. 

Some moments are unexpected, and the clarity that Poppy keeps while pushing the envelope of her musical growth is something that makes this album one of the best projects to release so far this year. For those in need of a refreshing metal album - Negative Space might just feel like home.

Sonically, the album shifts gears while still remaining consistent in most cases, with shorter songs, standard length tracks, and interludes (of sorts) that help to split the album up and keep it in neat pieces. The transitions are sharp and the album flows together as one solid entity - meaning that hearing the project in full is an absolute must.