Artist: Comus
Label: Cargo Records
Release: 2012
Runtime: 40:27
Rating: 4/5
»Somebody is talking about me.« Anyone who knows and loves the cult debut First Utterance by Comus will catch their breath, shudder to the bone, feel their blood run cold. »Out of the coma!« Wootton lunges at us with the same bloodthirsty stare, the same sexual unhingedness, and a not-quite-identical, horrifyingly bonkers vocal, just like 40 years ago. Comus, Milton’s pagan beast, who seduces young women in disguise and ravishes them in his cave, who gets rid of everything that so much as smells of Christianity, is back after 41 years of sleep. What was once a slightly goofy, weirdly creepy freak has turned into something old, angry and above all – dissatisfied. Just like Wootton’s voice. The singer has become an angry old man with a raw, rough voice, and with it he can channel all the might of Comus, fueled by 40 years of discontent. In short – Comus are back.
It’s been 38 years since the last record, since the black spot on their cult discography, since the pop-folk mediocrity dictated by capitalism’s craving for quantity over quality. After the cult First Utterance, Comus fell apart, but their label contract demanded one more album from them. The result was, naturally, uninspired, below average, lazy and above all utterly ordinary: To Keep From Crying. That simply wasn’t Comus. Those weren’t Comus.
So all of us closet pagans went euphoric when the new album was announced. The preview of the title track »Out of the Coma« was Comus. The very same Comus from 40 years ago, the same beast, the same band. The same dread that creeps over the listener, that behind you, somewhere in a corner, in the dark, a pagan creature lurks and waits, waits to tear you apart and feast on your insides.
The first track, the title track, is also the high point of the album. »Out of the Coma« is full of the debut’s energy, angry, gorgeously creepy, soaked in freak-folk melodies and the goosebump-inducing sighs of singer Bobbie Seagroatt. It’s a song about the return of Milton’s beast, dark pagan rituals and the corpses of naive Catholic girls. Like »Diana« on First Utterance, »Out of the Coma« on the album of the same name won’t let the listener stop listening. It does that less through its musical genius – of which there’s no shortage – than through, well, sheer fear. The second of the three new tracks, »The Sacrifice«, strongly echoes the debut’s second track, »The Herald«. A calm, beautiful guitar melody, ominously lovely woodwinds, Bobbie’s gentle voice. If you liked »The Herald« from First Utterance, then »The Sacrifice« will soothe your ears too after the horrifying predecessor… At least at first. When Wootton joins the instrumental, the song takes a darker turn. The tempo builds, the rhythm swells, the fear comes creeping back. »The Return«, the third track, is in the manner of the start of its predecessor. The creepiness, the dread and the genius of the »Out of the Coma« track are still there, but this is calmer prog folk, not the mad, raging frenzy that’s so ever-present on First Utterance. Maybe Wootton’s voice just doesn’t allow for anything more than »Out of the Coma«. The song is still »Comus-esque«, but the album loses the tension it builds up with its opening.
The last part of the album is a lost diamond from Comus’s golden era. It was recorded on a cassette recorder, so the quality is very poor. It’s a roughly 15-minute suite called »The Maalgard Suite«. You can tell it’s a piece that could have easily found a home on First Utterance, but any further judging of this musical epic is a thankless task – the quality of the recording just doesn’t allow it. Still, it’s a welcome extra, though it would have worked better as a bonus track than as part of the album, since it’s obvious the creativity is still there and capable of more than 3 songs.
Out of the Coma is definitely an essential listen for every Comus fan. The band didn’t disappoint, which is surely the most important thing. It’s clear that First Utterance remains untouchable, but the differences between To Keep From Crying and Out of the Coma are like night and day. Out of the Coma is, of course, the night here, full of pagan rituals and the awakening of deep-sleeping creatures, a dark piece of work that recalls the golden era, while I personally don’t even count To Keep From Crying as part of the concept the band stands for. In the end, Out of the Coma isn’t just a high point in the balance between Comus’s first and second albums – it’s a high point on the entire music scene today.
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»Somebody is talking about me.« The very first words of Comus’ new album get our blood flowing, our bodies shaking, our blood freezing. “Out of the coma!” Wootton jumps at us, with the same bloodthirsty eyes, the same sexual derailment and not exactly the same freakishly creepy vocal, as he did some 40 years ago. Comus, Milton’s pagan beast, who masquerades as a human being and lures young women into his lair, where he rapes them, and who murders everything remotely Christian, is back after 41 years of slumber. He transformed from this harlequinish, weirdly-sinister freak into an angry and dissatisfied old thing. The same goes for Wootton’s voice. The singer became an old angry man with the rawest voice, with which he can fully embody Comus’ power, caused by its 40-year slumber. In other words – Comus are back.
38 years went by from their last album, from their black spot in the otherwise cult discography, from the pop-folk averageness that was To Keep From Crying, which came to be when the label’s capitalist tendency just wouldn’t back down. After their first album, Comus broke up, but their record deal commanded them to produce another album. To Keep From Crying wasn’t Comus. Weren’t Comus.
That is why every hidden pagan was euphoric when Comus’ new album was announced. Preview of “Out of the Coma”, the title track, was totally what Comus were about. The real deal from 40 years ago, the same beast, the same band.
The first track is the title track and at the same time the peak of the album. “Out of the Coma” is full of First Utterance’s energy, angry, creepily pretty, imbued with freak-folk melodies and spine-tingling sighs from Bobbie Seagroatt. The track is about the return of Milton’s beast, paganism and women’s corpses. It is “comustic” to its core. Like “Diana” on First Utterance “Out of the Coma” prohibits its listener to stop the spinning of the record, which is created with a kind of fear to stop listening to it rather than its genius, which doesn’t mean there is none – on the contrary. “Out of the Coma” is, in layman’s terms, genius. The second of the three new tracks, “The Sacrifice”, is reminiscent of the second track from First Utterance, “The Herald”. Calm, beautiful guitar melody, prettily sinister sounds of woodwind, Bobbie’s mild voice. This should set your heart at peace… at least at the very start. When Wootton’s vocals kick in, the song takes a darker path. Bliss becomes despair. The rhythm intensifies, the pace increases, the anger returns. “The Return”, the third track, is in the similar manner as its precursor is when it starts. We can still feel the sinister ambiance, but it is more or less this calm prog folk and not the blazing insanity of “Out of the Coma” and First Utterance. Don’t get me wrong – the song is still full of what Comus represents, it just isn’t as tense as the title track.
The last part of the album gives us the lost Comus gem from their golden years. The song was recorded on a cassette recorder in 1972, which is why the quality is bad. It’s this 15-minute long suite, called “The Maalgard Suite”, which is definitely in the vain of everything on First Utterance. But any kind of review of this piece of music would be really hard, as the quality of the recording isn’t all that good. Nevertheless, this recording is a welcome bonus to the new material, but it would be even better if it would be added as a bonus track along with the album. Comus creativity is back, so it’s a shame that there wasn’t more new material on the album.
Out of the Coma is definitely an essential listen for every Comus fan. The band didn’t disappoint, which is very important in this case. It’s crystal clear the First Utterance remains untouchable, but Out of the Coma is definitely remindful of Comus’ golden era. In the end, Out of the Coma isn’t only a very good addition to Comus’ discography and a remind of what they were and are capable, but also a well-above-average piece of music on today’s music scene.
Lineup
Roger Wootton – acoustic guitar, vocals | acoustic guitar, lead vocals
Bobbie Seagroatt – vocals, percussion | vocals, percussion
Glenn Goring – assorted guitars, drums, vocals | 6-12 acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide, hand drums, vocals
Colin Pearson – violin, viola | violin, viola
Andy Hellaby – bass guitars, vocals | fender bass, slide bass, vocals
Jon Seagroatt – woodwinds, percussion | woodwind, percussion
Production
Jon Seagroatt
Tracklist
1. Out of the Coma
2. The Sacrifice
3. The Return
4. Roger Spoken Intro to “The Malgaard Suite”
5. The Malgaard Suite
