It’s not as good as First Utterance and straight-up copies it in some ways, but I don’t really care. First Utterance is still a work of brilliance and one of a kind, I can totally go for something similar even if it’s not up to that amazing par. They’re like, what, 40 years older now? I can’t reasonably expect a band to create one of the best albums of all time, let alone another…

Roger Wootton’s voice has certainly aged, replacing his high-pitched shrieks of First Utterance with a low growl and it is one of the much-needed things that distances it from that album. There’s also an addition of sax on “Out of the Coma” and “The Return.” It works, but it’s a bit too pleasant and smooth for Comus. This album is nowhere close to as intense as First Utterance was, probably the its biggest flaw. “The Sacrifice” and “The Return” try to recreate feeling of “The Herald” off of First Utterance. Captivating, but not as good.

“The Malgaard Suite” is an anomaly. It’s a live recording of a song that would have been on the band’s original second album that was canned in favor of something more commercial (To Keep From Crying). It sounds like it could have been a Comus classic, but the quality of the live recording is truly awful. Apparently the group lost the lyrics and sheet music, which is a decent excuse, but would it really have been that hard for the band to recreate the song by ear? I can’t imagine so. All in all, Out of the Coma sounds like an album that needs more confidence, but I like it and it’s much, much better than nothing at all. Thanks Comus!