FIRST UTTERANCE

The idea of freak-folk intrigues me. You've got your evil twisted music (mainly evident in the lyrics here), but instead of conveying it with non-acoustic and more 'rock' oriented instruments such as furious metal drums, synthetic soundscapes, or electric guitars, it's nearly all acoustic. With exception to the bass, there are violins, flutes, acoustic guitars, oboes, hand drums, and of course vocals that are present in First Utterance. The significance of this lies in the fact that these are all organic, earthy, human instruments that therefore give a sense a realism. When you warp it all by adding twisted and dark themes (such as what I interpret to be necrophilia) to such organic instrumentation it makes the evil seem more real, and this is the appeal of the musical style.

When you have music that doesn't need electricity, all these instrumentalists who have been summoned to the studio have the ability to play in the same manner anywhere else, such as the dark forest. These people could be occult practicing psychos who play music in caves instead of rehearsal studios. Anything is possible with folk and this notion is what makes the atmosphere more effective and sets it apart from black metal and various other 'evil' bands.

Anyway, back to the actual review. First Utterance is an underground prog folk gem, and since brutal lyrical themes aren't everyone's cup of tea it's the sort of thing with a cult following. Notably, it's almost 50 minutes long which is impressive for a debut album at the time.

'Diana' is the perfect introduction to the album and sets the dark, quirky, 'foresty' atmosphere with aid from what is seemingly goblins worshiping their pagan god, and creepy slide guitars. This is my personal favourite of the album and I especially love the melodic hook of the violin in the chorus. In fact the violent sounding violin throughout the album is exceptional. Hand drums give the occult feel, and to further signify creepiness, the goblins have a sweet fragile-sounding girl singing with them. Haunting!

Next up is a change. 'The Herald' is a creepy and softer song broken into three parts. The girl's vocals come to fore in the first and last parts with a gentle flute alongside, and the middle section is filled with virtuosity in the form of acoustic finger picking. Unlike the other songs, this one is a showcase of beauty - a contrast from the others, displaying that evil has the power to be seductive and lure you in to a seemingly serene world. But it gets graphic from here on.

'Drip Drip from your sagging lip. Liquid red down your body spread.' 'Your body at peace even the earth will fill the crack where entered my blade.' I think we can assume what this one's about. The confrontational yet somewhat subtle lyrics are clever. This song has most of the instrumental elements from Diana, such as the hand drums, slide guitars, violent violins, but this time it's less quirky and fittingly a lot more aggressive. The chorus is very catchy also. Included in the song is a section where the cave dwellers seem to be partying.

'Song to Comus' is similar to the last song; it has rape, aggression, creepy vocals, etc. I don't think much else needs to be said. To be honest this is my least favourite song as it doesn't offer much new and repeats itself a little. But it's still great song nonetheless.

Next up let's hang some Christians in 'The Bite'. It's a more straightforward track with a set rhythm and sounds a little reminiscent of Jethro Tull with it's 'rockier' flute. It also has more of a sense of drama.

'Bitten' isn't really a 'song' but more a short atmospheric experimentation. A nice interlude.

Like the subject matter of 'The Prisoner' this song is structurally kind of schizophrenic, with humbler passages among the more dramatic. In spots it sounds a lot more happy and positive compared to the rest, but it's about mental illness so it's still Comus like we have come to know them. The song ends the album in a crazy, abrupt, disorientating, and therefore fitting manner. Insane!

What's great about this album is it challenges the listeners by disturbing them. We all get a kick out of violence in movies and games, and we love to be scared and shocked from horror films. So I don't see a problem with getting a kick out of disturbing music. Although I'm pretty sure most people would think you're pretty weird for it.

Anyway this is one of those 'love it or hate it' albums, and I am a proud lover. You have to be in the right mood or place when listening to it though. 4.5 stars for this unique folk experience. Thanks to the internet and people like Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth who publicize their fandom, more and more people can discover things like First Utterance.