Creepy, you see.....very creepy

Comus-First Utterance-1971
Acid-folk, folk-rock, proto-progressive, experimental.

Good evening boys and girls for your audiological experience tonight I bring to you a daft affair which will entertain, unsettle and drive you into delerium, or i guess you'll just put it on in the background or something.

Comus (with a hard S{not like Camus}) were an english folk rock band from the late 60s early 70s, who produced a few albums of little success or critical acclaim. First Utterance is their debut and their most interesting work. Based on a poem by John Milton it deals with as my good friend wikipedia tells me:

"two brothers and their sister lost in the wood. The Lady becomes fatigued, and the brothers wander off in search of sustenance. The Lady is captured by the debauched Comus, a character inspired by the god of mockery, brought to his pleasure palace, and magically affixed to a chair with "gums of glutinous heat." Comus urges the Lady to "be not coy" and drink from his magical cup (representing sexual pleasure and intemperance), but she repeatedly refuses, arguing for the virtuousness of temperance and chastity. Meanwhile her brothers, searching for her, come across the Attendant Spirit, an angelic figure sent to aid them, who takes the form of a shepherd and tells them how to defeat Comus. The three manage to rescue her and chase off Comus, but the Lady remains magically bound to her chair. With a song, the Spirit conjures the water nymph Sabrina who frees the Lady on account of her steadfast virtue."

It sounds reminiscent of very traditional folk at some points and at other times raucous ramblings of a madman over a drunken flute rock band lost in the woods waiting to die. This complement alone should entice a willing reader to listen, frankly its a very unique album, partly due its concept nature and also due to its rather odd song structures which seem to start, change and stop at odd intervals.

The lyrics are somewhat undeceipherable, whether there about torture, madness or rape is anyone's guess, but that is not the point, if you want pretty lyrics then this is not the place to listen, but if you want a full on journey through a theme of human suffering in a folk rock style than this is your definitive cup of tea.

"Diana" and "Drip Drip" are probably the two strongest songs although the latter tends to go on a fair bit too long, "Song to Comus" and "The Bite" also stand out as highlights on what is a fairly consistent album. A really novel experience and a cult classic, very interesting music, it always has a slightly bemusing effect on me, its really quite eerie. The strained vocals and high pitched violin create a vibe of unease, whilst the "gypsyesque" drum beats force the songs through unabated tension and feelings primal witchcraft. In the end you feel like you've been cursed somehow, only to remember "I don't believe in curses" then lots of your friends relatives get cancer. But you think the odds are high, 1 in 3 people will get cancer, of course it's not a curse, then one day you wake up in the middle of the night and a giant rabbit with a glowing eye is at the end of your bed and asks you to follow it and leads you on to commit a series of crimes, then you find that you time traveled and................oh
Enjoy, recommended for any curious listeners.
jamscoopa

Please buy from a good retailer or:
USA
UK
Or delete after 24 hours:
Utter