POPPY — I Disagree (review)

Album · 2020 · Alternative Metal

3.5/5 · 2020-10-16
Unitron

After years of scorn, nu metal has since began to make a comeback. With that said, nu metal still goes misunderstood most of the time. It's the black sheep of the metal family, taking direct influence of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle's discarding of genre norms. After Korn's debut displayed a combination of groove metal with many other musical elements, other bands followed suit with combining metal with whatever they felt like. Purists didn't like this, and it didn't help that in the early 2000's many regular alternative metal bands were being mistaken as nu metal and some nu metal bands went soft or in a more standard metal direction, and the genre lost steam.

Much of the nu metal revival was ignited by metalcore bands starting to bring in turntables and other different instrumentation. Poppy however, comes from a completely different background outside of metal. Originally playing electro-pop and ambient music, into metal comes I Disagree (though with some metal before). I had no interest in what she was doing previously, but a pop artist going nu metal in 2020 is a pretty odd thing and sparked my interest.

Whether influenced by them or not, I Disagree reminds me of the Finnish nu metal band Velcra in her attempt at blending metal, hip hop, pop, and various electronic styles. While Velcra shows how fantastic that combination can be in the hands of great songwriters, I Disagree suffers from genre clashing. At its worst, you have opener Concrete. You get this hardass fantastic screeching nu metal hook, then it just goes into a sugary J-pop sound right out of Babymetal. It completely conflicts with the mood and sounds like a completely different song and not in a good way. Pop is maybe among the most difficult to combine with metal successfully, as most pop music lacks the edge and angst that metal typically requires. Though as seen in parts of this album, the its melodic nature can blend well. It takes a very skilled songwriter to blend what are often opposite styles of music in a way that works and sounds good. It makes sense that on Poppy's first album length attempt at metal that she wouldn't master all the elements she wishes to combine though.

At it's absolute best however, like with Bite Your Teeth, Poppy delivers a nu metal banger. The searing riffs and discordant breakdown conjure up a similar noisy factory atmosphere as Arch Enemy's Doomsday Machine, but with a pop-esque vocal performance. There's even a short melody that sounds right out of a Pain of Salvation album. The great thing is that everything fits into place and feels like it belongs. Fill the Crown is another good song but with a Marilyn Manson-esque vibe to it. The industrial and glitchy electronic and hip hop elements fit well mostly, making sense as electronic and especially hip hop are closer in attitude to metal.

Poppy's metal debut is inconsistent and even at times hard to listen to. However, it shows promise and holds some great songs. As of now, it makes me want to listen to Velcra. With some honing of sound though, I think Poppy could deliver a great addition to the nu metal revival.

more than 2 years ago
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Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks, I think it's cool when musicians do different things to what they usually do, and even if it doesn't completely work the first time doesn't mean it isn't worth experimenting further.

I understand just not liking certain kinds of music. I don't know if there's any overall main genre that I flat-out don't like. I don't like most pop music, but I do like Michael Jackson and quite a bit of 80's New Wave so I can't say I don't like any of it. I think my three favorite genres will probably remain as metal, electronic, and hip hop.

666sharon666 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I don't think we're ever going to be on the same page with this one but good review, your cautiously positive point of view is well presented.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Interesting alternate point of view.

I'm open to electronic elements in metal. I even own a few albums where this is the case, though they're never a dominate factor, more flavour.

I can't say the same for hip-hop/rap. I also have a few albums with rapping on and sometimes I can tolerate it if the song is good, but it always feels like a case of 'I didn't ask for this!'.

I played a few songs from this after seeing how hyped it was on RYM on one point (near the top of the metal chart) but gave up after a few tracks. I have no intention of going back.