Comus

Comus are a British progressive folk band who had a brief career in the early 1970s. Their first album, First Utterance, brought them a cult following, which persists. They reunited in 2009, and have played several festivals and released a new album called Out of the Coma. History Comus was formed in 1969 by art students Roger Wootton and Glenn Goring, who developed their musical style performing in folk clubs in and around Bromley in Kent. The band was named after Comus (a masque by John Milton), and also after the name of the Greek god Comus. The band grew from an early folk duo to a six-piece ensemble; in that later form, David Bowie came to appreciate them. They appeared regularly at his Arts Lab project in Beckenham, Kent. He also invited them to be his support act in a 1969 concert at London's Purcell Rooms. Their first album, First Utterance, with cover art by Wootton and Goring, appeared in 1971. The music is largely acoustic art rock (also described as acoustic metal and acid folk) that blends elements of Eastern percussion, early folk and animal-like vocals. The lyrics involve violence, murder, mental disorder and the mystical. Tiny Mix Tapes rated First Utterance five stars out of five. After the album, woodwind player Rob Young was replaced by Lindsay Cooper, and the new lineup developed material for a never-released second album. No recording by this lineup would see the light of day for another 40 years. The group disbanded for a time, but Wootton, Andy Hellaby and Bobbie Watson reformed the band with new members for their second album, To Keep from Crying, in 1974.