OKComputer1016
01/14/09, 08:04 AM
Cougar Den – Keepondrifter
Record Label: Init Records
Release Date: October 30, 2008
If you know me at all, or you’ve read my 2008 End of the Year list (which you should), I’ve probably made it abundantly clear how disappointed I was with the latest Fear Before album. No matter how many times I listen to it, I keep feeling like something is missing, and it could never come close to the group’s last two brilliant albums. Luckily, Cougar Den seem to have appeared exactly at the right time, filling the Art Damaged void in my heart. Much like Keepondrifter’s album artwork, which is excellent, the group is mysterious, willfully cluttered, and inexplicably frightening. But the packaging also fails to display the name of the group, which kind of speaks to the anonymity of their sound; i.e., which band is this?
Clearly, since I opened my review by talking about another band, you’re not in for the most individual sounding band of all time, but considering the quality of Cougar Den’s songwriting, that doesn’t really seem to matter so much. Their sound recalls Norma Jean’s Redeemer in many key tracks, such as the closer “East’ll Meet West Anyway”, and even nods to Gallows with the excellent, riff-ified “Burn the Vatican”, but it never seems like a blank replica of either band. Rather, Cougar Den synthesize (however blatantly) elements of their favorite groups in order to make one comprehensive whole, which thankfully includes no goofy vocal tricks (scream guy / speak guy, high pitch, etc). The result is an album full of familiar but awesomely heavy songs.
One of Cougar Den’s best tricks is their treble soaked tremolo leads, which mark tracks like “Between Long Lines” as must-listens. Don’t worry – they’re not stretching into Circa Survive territory like every other band you’ve heard last year; they keep it in the context of the music. Think Thursday, but with a scratchier, more tortured vocalist. Again, you can definitely hear the band struggling to find their identity between the identities of their favorite bands, but they’re very talented, especially the guitarist, and if you’re looking for something energetic to go crazy to, this is quite an album.
Since “the March of Flames” is now an unclaimed moniker-suffix, I’d recommend updating the Cougar Den tag to ‘Cougar Den the March of Flames’, especially since Cougar Den alone sounds more like an office full of hot older women than a metalcore band. But what’s in a name? Here’s hoping these guys don’t go all Sparta on their sophomore release. Up until now, they’ve kept it quite real.
Don’t Believe Me?
www.myspace.com/cougarden
Recommended If You Like:
Fear Before the March of Flames, Norma Jean, Poison the Well
Record Label: Init Records
Release Date: October 30, 2008
If you know me at all, or you’ve read my 2008 End of the Year list (which you should), I’ve probably made it abundantly clear how disappointed I was with the latest Fear Before album. No matter how many times I listen to it, I keep feeling like something is missing, and it could never come close to the group’s last two brilliant albums. Luckily, Cougar Den seem to have appeared exactly at the right time, filling the Art Damaged void in my heart. Much like Keepondrifter’s album artwork, which is excellent, the group is mysterious, willfully cluttered, and inexplicably frightening. But the packaging also fails to display the name of the group, which kind of speaks to the anonymity of their sound; i.e., which band is this?
Clearly, since I opened my review by talking about another band, you’re not in for the most individual sounding band of all time, but considering the quality of Cougar Den’s songwriting, that doesn’t really seem to matter so much. Their sound recalls Norma Jean’s Redeemer in many key tracks, such as the closer “East’ll Meet West Anyway”, and even nods to Gallows with the excellent, riff-ified “Burn the Vatican”, but it never seems like a blank replica of either band. Rather, Cougar Den synthesize (however blatantly) elements of their favorite groups in order to make one comprehensive whole, which thankfully includes no goofy vocal tricks (scream guy / speak guy, high pitch, etc). The result is an album full of familiar but awesomely heavy songs.
One of Cougar Den’s best tricks is their treble soaked tremolo leads, which mark tracks like “Between Long Lines” as must-listens. Don’t worry – they’re not stretching into Circa Survive territory like every other band you’ve heard last year; they keep it in the context of the music. Think Thursday, but with a scratchier, more tortured vocalist. Again, you can definitely hear the band struggling to find their identity between the identities of their favorite bands, but they’re very talented, especially the guitarist, and if you’re looking for something energetic to go crazy to, this is quite an album.
Since “the March of Flames” is now an unclaimed moniker-suffix, I’d recommend updating the Cougar Den tag to ‘Cougar Den the March of Flames’, especially since Cougar Den alone sounds more like an office full of hot older women than a metalcore band. But what’s in a name? Here’s hoping these guys don’t go all Sparta on their sophomore release. Up until now, they’ve kept it quite real.
Don’t Believe Me?
www.myspace.com/cougarden
Recommended If You Like:
Fear Before the March of Flames, Norma Jean, Poison the Well