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Comus were one of England's underground bands that dealt with the folk
revival from a psychedelic and classical perspective.
First Utterance (Pye, 1971 - Earmark, 2005)
employed viola, violin, flute, oboe, guitar and percussions,
distributed among six members, to craft complex songs such as
Diana, Drip Drip, Song To Comus,
The Bite, The Prisoner
that hark back to the Middle Ages but also comply with the canon of
Canterbury's progressive-rock.
The three-part suite The Herald is possibly their masterpiece.
Roger Wootton's growling vocals (a` la Family's Roger Chapman) added an
evil dimension to their sordid tales of murder, rape and witchcraft.
Their second album, To Keep From Crying (Virgin, 1974), featured
Lindsay Cooper (Henry Cow) and Didier Malherbe (Gong) but, surprisingly,
was far less adventurous and sounded like so much hippie-folk of the 1960s.
Song To Comus: The Complete Collection (Castle Music, 2005) is a 2cd-set
that reissues First Utterance with the first single and bonus tracks.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Claudio Vespignani)
I Comus furono uno
dei
complessi dell'underground britannico ad occuparsi del revival folk da
una
prospettiva psichedelica e classica.
First utterance (Pye, 1971)
impiegava
viola, violino, flauto, oboe, chitarra e percussioni, distribuiti nei
sei
elementi, per confezionare brani complessi come Diana,Drip drip, Song to Comus,
The bite,
The prisoner that hark back to the Middle Ages, che comunque
aderivano ai
canoni del progressive-rock di Canterbury. La suite in tre parti The Herald si puo`
considerare il loro
capolavoro. Il grugnito vocale di Roger Wootton (simile a Roger Chapman
dei
Family) contribuiva alla dimensione malefica delle loro sordide storie
di
assassini, stupri e stregoneria.
Il loro secondo
album, To keep from crying (Virgin 1974),
comprendeva Lindsay Cooper (Henry Cow) e Didier Mahlerbe (Gong), ma
sorprendentemente, era molto meno avventuroso e suonava come tanti altri
complessi folk-hippie degli anni '60.
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