»Somebody is talking about me.«  Poznavalcem in ljubiteljem debija First Utterance kultnih Comus zastane dih, vzdrgeti telo, zamrzne kri. »Out of the coma!« plane Wootton nad nas, z istim krvoločnim pogledom, z isto spolno iztirjenostjo in z ne popolnoma istim grozljivo-odštekanim vokalom kot pred 40 leti. Comus, Miltonov poganski stvor, ki zamaskiran zapeljuje mlade ženske in jih v svoji jami posili, ki se znebi vsega, kar le diši po krščanski veri, se je po 41 letih spanca vrnil. Iz nekoliko norčavega, čudaško-srhljivega frika je postal star, jezen in predvsem – nepotešen. Tako kot tudi Woottonov glas. Pevec se je spremenil v jeznega starega moža s surovim glasom, s katerim lahko povzame vso moč Comusa, ki mu jo daje 40-letna nepotešenost. Na kratko – Comus so nazaj.

38 let od je preteklo od zadnje plošče, od črne pike v kultni diskografiji, od pop-folkovske povprečnosti, ki jo je narekovala kapitalistična težnja po kvantiteti in ne kvaliteti. Comus so namreč po kultnem First Utterance razpadli, vendar pa je pogodba z založbo od njih zahtevala, da posnamejo še en album. Rezultat je bil seveda nenavdahnjen, podpovprečen, ležeren in predvsem popolnoma navaden To Keep From Crying. To namreč ni bil Comus. To niso bili Comus.

Zato smo bili vsi prikriti pogani evforični ob najavi novega albuma. Predogled naslovnega »Out of the Coma« je bil Comus. Taisti Comus izpred 40 let, taisti stvor, taisti bend. Taista prestrašenost poslušalca, da za njem, nekje v kotu, v temi, ždi poganski stvor in čaka, čaka, da ga raztrga ter si postreže z njegovo notranjostjo.

Prvi komad, naslovni komad, je tudi vrhunec albuma. »Out of the Coma« je poln energije debija, jezen, prelepo srhljiv, prežet s čudaško-folkovskimi melodijami in mravljince-sprožujočih vzdihov pevke Bobbie Seagroatt. Komad o vrnitvi Miltonovega stvora, poganskih temačnih ritualov in trupel naivnih katoliških deklet. Kot »Diana« na First Utterance, »Out of the Coma« na istoimenskem albumu poslušalcu ne dovoli prenehati s poslušanjem. Prej kot s svojo glasbeno genialnostjo – ki je ne manjka - to stori z, no, povzročenim strahom. Drugi od treh novih komadov »The Sacrifice« močno reminiscira na drugi komad debija, »The Herald«. Umirjena, prelepa kitarska melodija, zlovešče lepi zvoki pihal, Bobbiejin mil glas. Če vam je bil všeč »The Herald« s First Utterance, potlej bo tudi »The Sacrifice« pomiril vaša ušesa od grozovitega predhodnika... Vsaj na začetku. Ko se inštrumentalu pridruži še Wootton, gre skladba po temačnejši poti. Tempo se stopnjuje, ritem narašča, strah se vrača. »The Return«, tretji komad, je v maniri začetka predhodnika. Še vedno je občutena srhljivost, grozljivost in genialnost »Out of the Coma« skladbe, vendar gre za umirjen prog folk, ne za blazno, besno norijo, ki je tako vseprisotna na First Utterance. Morda Woottonu glas ne dovoljuje nečesa, kar bi bilo več kot »Out of the Coma«. Skladba je še vedno »comusovska«, vendar album izgubi napetost, ki jo ustvari z uvodom.

Zadnji del albuma predstavlja izgubljen diamant zlate Comus dobe. Posneta je bila na kasetnik, zato je kvaliteta zelo slaba. Gre za približno 15 minut dolgo suito, imenovano »The Maalgard Suite«. Slišati je, da gre za skladbo, ki bi se brez problema lahko znašla na First Utterance, vendar je kakršnokoli nadaljnje ocenjevanje tega glasbenega epa nehvaležno – kvaliteta posnetka tega namreč ne dovoljuje. Vseeno gre za dobrodošel dodatek, vendar bi bil lahko, raje kot del albuma, dodan kot bonus komad, saj je očitno, da je ustvarjalnost še vedno prisotna in zmožna česa več kot 3 skladb.

Out of the Coma je zagotovo esencialno poslušanje za vse ljubitelje Comusa. Bend ni razočaral, kar je zagotovo najpomembnejše. Jasno je, da First Utterance ostaja nedotakljiv, vendar pa so si razlike med To Keep From Crying in Out of the Coma kot noč in dan. Out of the Coma je tu seveda noč, polna poganskih ritualov in prebujanja trdno spečih stvorov, mračen izdelek, ki spomne na zlato obdobje, To Keep From Crying pa sam niti ne štejem v koncept, ki ga predstavlja bend. Out of the Coma na koncu ni samo presežek glede na razmerje med prvim in drugim albumom Comusa – je presežek na celotni današnji glasbeni sceni.

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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.