People are strange, so why is folk music ever anything but? Comus’ debut album crept from the roots of a mystical forest, where gothic festivities took place in the light of a burning fire. It is everything between creepy and fantastically beautiful—”I carry you to your grave, my arms your hearse” is one of the most metal sentiments ever scribed. The Middle Age instrumentation arcs and retreats under the disturbing weight, but inevitably returns due to an ashamed proclivity for darkness. Like a burgeoning cult, First Utterance beguiles the listener by targeting the somatic and psychological: it feels less like a dream than a reliving of a horrific past life.
27/30
A favourite: ‘Diana’
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