A new Comus EP has been on the cards for a few years as the group reinvigorated itself with a number of successful reunion shows. New songs crept into their set and finally a mini-album of fresh material has made it out into the wild. Not only that, the three studio recordings are bolstered with a bootleg recording of a 1972 performance of "The Malgaard Suite," their aborted second album (not to be confused with 1974’s To Keep from Crying). Overall, it does not reach the dizzying heights of First Utterance but it is a worthy return for such a legendary group.
I had the pleasure of hearing two of these songs during Comus’ set at David Tibet’s 50th birthday celebration concerts in 2010 and, as I noted at the time, they worked very well next to the original songs. The title track in particular is classic Comus as they herald their return to consciousness, waking from the musical coma the group has been in for 40 years. While Roger Wootten’s voice has aged, it is still powerful and full of danger, though his delivery of the chorus is strange to say the least as he attempts some kind of demonic Louis Armstrong voice. On the other hand, Bobbie Watson sounds as good as ever, her virginal voice a perfect counter to Wootten’s infernal howls. The group’s return is cemented when Colin Pearson puts his bow to his viola and the panic sets in. The only blemish is the inclusion of clarinet at the end which does not suit the Comus aesthetic at all; Jon Seagrott is a great player but I cannot help but feel that the flute would suit this song so much better.
If I recall correctly, "The Sacrifice" did not catch my ear as much as "Out of the Coma" at the London show but here it sounds excellent. Thematically, it is more in keeping with First Utterance though it feels a little reined in compared to the sheer darkness of those early songs. Here, the flute does make an appearance and it does work very well, a moment of lilting pastoral calm before the bloodshed occurs. It is Pearson’s viola that steals the show, his rapid arpeggios mimicking the stabbing actions of the lyrics. As the song climaxes, the flute invokes the ecstatic blood-lust of a mythical pagan ritual full of awe and fear.
The last new song is "The Return," which sounds a little like Opeth at their folkiest (and Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt has never hidden his love of Comus so this is not much of a surprise). Here, intricate guitar work and Watson’s vocals create a mesmerizing web out of the music. I keep expecting Opeth’s death metal roar to erupt during the song’s middle section but instead Comus retreat into a gloomy cave of processed vocals and bass which is more like an eerie take on Current 93’s "Moonlight, You Will Say" than anything else.
The inclusion of" The Malgaard Suite" is a bit strange as on one hand, unheard material from Comus’ glory days should be welcome but on the other hand, it is a tough listen considering the recording quality. I can hear the potential amidst the murk (it sounds like King Crimson were becoming more of an influence on the group’s songwriting in terms of structure and length) but it is a tiring listen as the different elements bleed into each other. I feel that I will probably be hitting stop after "The Return" when listening to this album in the future though that is purely due to auditory fatigue as the song itself is rather good.
On the surface, Out of the Coma does not recreate the mastery of First Utterance but I think that even if Comus had headed into the studio and finished "The Malgaard Suite" in 1972, they would struggle to top their perfect first album. Perhaps if Out of the Coma was limited to just the new studio recordings, it would hang better but even as it stands, it is a remarkable return from cold storage for a much loved and magical band of musicians.
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