Biography
Often compared to the sounds of Tool, System of a Down, and Helmet, the Sydney-based progressive rock outfit Cog blends those influences with pronounced heavy metal edges. Flynn Gower on vocals and guitar and Lucius Borich on drums, school friends who had earlier collaborated in the late-’90s stoner rock group The Hanging Tree, launched the project in 1998. After writing early songs, they recruited Flynn’s brother Luke Gower on bass to complete the lineup. The resulting trio quickly became a sought-after live draw across Sydney and throughout New South Wales. A 2000 demo titled Pseudo attracted the independent imprint Little Samurai, which issued three EPs: Just Visiting, Pt. 1 and Just Visiting, Pt. 2 in 2002, followed by Open Up in 2003.
Former Universal Music Australia managing director Paul Krige then signed the band to his own Difrnt Music label. Cog traveled to California to record with producer Sylvia Massy, whose résumé includes Tool’s Undertow from 1993 and engineering work alongside Rick Rubin on System of a Down’s self-titled 1998 debut. The sessions yielded the group’s first full-length, The New Normal, which appeared in 2005, entered the national Top 20, topped the AIR albums chart, and featured the radio track “Run” that reached the AIR singles Top Five. Extensive touring across Australia and New Zealand kept the band on the road for nearly a full year. They reunited with Massy for the follow-up Sharing Space, released in 2008, which climbed to number two on the Australian albums chart and spawned the Top 50 single “What If.”
Former Universal Music Australia managing director Paul Krige then signed the band to his own Difrnt Music label. Cog traveled to California to record with producer Sylvia Massy, whose résumé includes Tool’s Undertow from 1993 and engineering work alongside Rick Rubin on System of a Down’s self-titled 1998 debut. The sessions yielded the group’s first full-length, The New Normal, which appeared in 2005, entered the national Top 20, topped the AIR albums chart, and featured the radio track “Run” that reached the AIR singles Top Five. Extensive touring across Australia and New Zealand kept the band on the road for nearly a full year. They reunited with Massy for the follow-up Sharing Space, released in 2008, which climbed to number two on the Australian albums chart and spawned the Top 50 single “What If.”
Singles
