OUT OF THE COMA

COMUS is one of those bands that despite really only having created one outstanding album of their career, nevertheless transcends the very nature of time and space with their debut album "First Utterance" having become a cult classic after the fact and inspiring generations of music lovers with their utterly magically dark folk magnum opus. It does indeed seem that the album was divinely ordained as even Roger Wootton's memories of the time period were bleak and depressing and absolutely nothing about the recording of the album worked out as planned. The band members still deem it as not as good as they wanted it and the music world of the day didn't quite know how to perceive it. It was initially released with only 1000 copies and pretty much got buried under the more accessible prog rock albums of the day, but time has vindicated this phenomenal classic as it stands as one of my personal all time favorite albums. A desert isle pick most likely ranking in my top 5 albums of history. And i'm not alone in this regard.

The album went under the radar by even the band members themselves. They, themselves, had not even known what a gem they had produced. After "First Utterance" hit the market in 1971, the band quickly splintered and scattered off into their own respective worlds. Roger Wootton would continue the brand name COMUS only to fall into the commercial trappings of the music industry and released the utterly disappointing followup "To Keep From Crying" four years later. After that fiasco he was enticed to fall even deeper into the lame-o-sphere by recording solo projects that utilized cheap poppy calypso and cheesy middlebrow compositions of mediocrity. By the mid-70s, it was inconceivable that COMUS ever released one of the most renowned cult albums in the entire history of music. However, that one album of pure genius and divine intervention did not go unnoticed. Over the ensuing decades, "First Utterance" became one of the most revered albums of the entire dark freak folk universe.

As the decades elapsed, new generations who experienced "First Utterance" for the first time were floored by the sheer intensity of the album which led to a new generation of progressive folk inspired music that emerged in the form of Mikael Åkerfeldt adopting lyrics from "Drip Drip" for the title of an Opeth album "My Arms, Your Hearse." He would continue this trend on "Ghost Reveries" with the track "The Baying Of The Hounds" from the track "Diana." Likewise David Tibet would also find inspiration in "Diana" by including his own demented version on the Current 93 album "Horsey" released in 1997.

Something clearly resonated with the COMUS debut as it did with yours truly and still remains one of those musical gifts from the gods, in this case, the party god COMUS. After the train wreck followup of "To Keep From Crying," it seemed unthinkable that COMUS would ever emerge from the shadows to release what could be regarded as a "proper" followup, but finally in 2012, the year that ends the Mayan calendar, that's exactly what they did with OUT OF THE COMA. The 2008 reunion concert in Sweden only reinforced the momentum and it seems the conspiracy of action was inevitable.

First of all, OUT OF THE COMA should not be viewed as a bona fide followup to "First Utterance." Instead it would be more appropriately thought of as a proper "what could have been" type of album. I mean, the band never had the proper self-esteem to carry on the"First Utterance" paradigm and literally imploded from the getgo, This album more rightfully corresponds to a "what we really wanted but never happened finally comes to fruition in a less than perfect way" reality. Oh well. In this dimensional plane where the negative and positive dance like drunken ballerinas trying to do the tango, that is good enough for me. OUT OF THE COMA delivers the goods in that regard with three totally new tracks and a less than perfect recording of the lengthy "The Malgaard Suite" which was intended for the authentic second album that never came to be.

The 35 year absence from one of the dark progressive folk's most stunning examples finally ended in 2012 as COMUS released OUT OF THE COMA. Once again, Roger Wootton provided the next stage in his ballpoint cover art which depicts the drunken character of the debut upright and finding a new way to animate itself. Likewise the music follows suite with three extraordinarily good tracks for a band so far removed from their early days. This new rendition of COMUS includes all the original members with only Rob Young (keyboards, percussion, oboe, flute) and Lindsay Cooper (oboe, bassoon, vocals) not finding their way into the new reality of COMUS. The new lineup also includes the new member Jon Seagroatt who plays flute, soprano sax, bass clarinet, percussion and even joins in as recording producer. One major complaint about the album is the incongruous "Introduction by Roger Wootton" that narrated the history of "The Malgaard Suite" on original issues but has thankfully been removed by popular demand. I agree that it was unnecessary and distorted the musical flow.

While one could nitpick to high heaven regarding the 2012 COMUS comeback OUT OF THE COMA, i have to say that this is a very welcome addition to the band's canon that needed to happen to explain the WTF history in a more refined context. Immediately two things hit me like a ton of bricks. Firstly Roger Wootton has lost his vocal range but still remains within the limitations of his vocal range as a much older guy and also that Bobbie Watson is still a supreme goddess who sounds as estrogen filled in the modern era as she did in her primetime, a major wow factor for an aging soprano. Secondly, the new tracks are very much a continuation of the debut. While not exactly outperforming anything from "First Utterance," OUT OF THE COMA more than blows away the substandard "To Keep From Crying" away. It may have taken 41 years to release a proper followup but that's exactly what COMUS did.

Musically the band picks up where "First Utterance" left off. You know, those beautifully constructed raw acoustic darkened stabs in the heart with frenzied execution that implement full acid rock energetic antics in a totally folk based context with utterly haunting atmospheres. The three new tracks exhibit a nicely up to date approach of the past. Exquisitely divine acoustic guitar fingerpicking, beautifully eked out melodies and and the beauty and the beast approach to vocals before metal ever latched onto the idea. The title track, "The Sacrifice" and "The Return" display COMUS' unique brand of freak folk with tribal drumming, lugubrious violin and the expected display of dark subject matter. While some may criticize "The Malgaard Suite" as an incomplete and dreadful underproduced relic from the past that should have been re-created for a bona fide followup album, i have to say that i kinda like it as it is.

OUT OF THE COMA should be accepted for what it is, namely a statement of the band's history rather than a legit followup to "First Utterance." Roger Wootton and company had zero plans ever to revisit the COMUS universe and only succumbed due to the surprising vitality of their debut, a live performance enthusiasm in 2008 and the solicitation of artists like Mikael Åkerfeldt who initiated the whole reunion thing. As far as progressive artists go, rarely do they manage to sustain the spirit that made their heyday so special but despite not exactly living up to the lofty expectations of "First Utterance," COMUS did an amazing job at keeping the feel of yore while living within the confines of the presence. While i like others could've wished for a complete album that faithfully picks up where the debut album left off, i have to admit that i'm very happy that COMUS released this next best thing. Perhaps they were aware of the limitations of releasing an album so many decades into the future and this is simply the best we could've hoped for. While nothing will dethrone the debut from its lofty perch, this comeback is no waste of time in any way.