Live Review: Cog + Osaka Punch + The Omnific, Max Watt’s Sydney (15.02.19)

Sydney’s Cog have remained incredibly active since returning from a six-year hiatus in 2016, finally releasing new music last year and launching into 2019 with new song Drawn Together. Taking the single on a national tour before heading to Europe, the three-piece played a completely packed Max Watt’s.

Opener, Melbourne’s The Omnific surprised the early arrivers with an instrumental set completely bereft of guitar, while Gold Coast rockers Osaka Punch played a flamboyant set reminiscent of the funk-metal era.

Opening with oldie and favourite The Door, it was evident Cog‘s set would cover a large amount of territory. Very few bands can open with a 10-minute long epic, let alone a deep cut from their first album, but Cog aren’t your regular band.

Followed by another cut from The New Normal, Are You Interested? and then Sharing Space’s What If? By the time they hit new song Altered States the sweaty crowd was rearing. A new instrumental interlude then led into their first new song since returning, The Middle, before playing probably their poppiest song to date, Run. I’ve always thought the band’s unique sound was the Antifa love-child of Tool and The Police, and this song is clearly the biggest pointer to this.

It’s no mean feat for a prog-metal band to have the crowd sing all of its songs for them, but frontman Flynn Gower regularly took a break for the audience to take over, a sort of respectful call-and-response.

Finishing up with latest song Drawn Together, before My Enemy and finally Bird of Feather, there would be no encores. Just the cool and casual thank you from a band who with only two albums and as many EPs, has meant to capture it’s own fanbase willing to wait the better part of a decade to have them back. And it was as if they’d never left.

FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

Cog are currently touring Australia, and then head overseas with sleepmakeswaves. For more details visit their website cog.com.au