Comus' First Utterance

Of all the obscure bands from the sixties ad seventies, Comus is among the most creative and original ones. Formed in 1969 by fellow art students Roger Wootton and Glenn Goring, the duo developed their musical style performing in folk clubs in and around Bromley in Kent. The name came from a masque by John Milton, but also after the Greek god Comus. The band grew from the early folk duo to the six-piece ensemble in few years. Their short-lived career produced two studio albums in the seventies and a reunion album in 2012. It was their debut release from 1971, “First Utterance,” that immediately gained the band a cult status. “First Utterance” was notable for its unique blend of progressive rock, folk, psychedelia, and elements of paganism and the macabre. The overall lyrical concept of the record is revolving around the theme of vulnerable innocence facing abusive power. The lyrics are in contrast with the acoustic sound of the record. It’s like Ozzy Osbourne formed a band featuring acoustic guitar, violin, and flute, singing about the doom of the world over tender, female harmonies. But the result is surprisingly good! The album is a masterpiece, blending the progressive elements of King Crimson with the melodic approach of the folk-revival bands such as Pentangle and Fairport Convention.

However good the music is, “First Utterance” didn’t sell well. The sales were so small that the band decided to dissolve after its release. Early biographies of Comus said that a postal strike was one of the reasons that the album did poorly; still, no one ever provided an explanation for how a postal strike affected the album's sales. After the album, woodwind player Rob Young was replaced by Lindsay Cooper, and the new lineup developed material for a never-released second album. No recording by this lineup would see the light of day for another 40 years. The group disbanded for a time, but Wootton, Hellaby, and Watson reformed the band with new members for their second album, “To Keep from Crying,” in 1974, that saw the group moving into a more experimental position. Like with the previous release, the sales were poor and the group disbanded again. After almost thirty years, on 13 June 2009 Comus performed for the first time in the UK in 37 years at the Equinox Festival at Conway Hall. In June 2012 a reunion album, “Out Of The Coma,” was released. It contains three new tracks: The Return (Goring), Out of The Coma (Wootton), The Sacrifice (Wootton) and a 1972 live recording of material from their abandoned follow-up to “First Utterance,” "The Malgaard Suite". Still, the debut release remains their strongest effort and it became a classic of the progressive folk scene soon after it saw the light of day.