by Steven McDonaldTaking their name from a character in a John Milton poem, Comus was a short-lived but powerful folk-rock band that seems to have made an attempt to mix elements of King Crimson with the influences of Pentangle, Fairport Convention and other more traditional folk outfits. The result was a sometimes unnerving mix of ethereal and dark tones. The cover of their debut, First Utterance (1971), bears a striking and likely deliberate resemblance to the cover of In The Court of the Crimson King. After a period of silence, the band re-emerged with To Keep From Crying in 1974, moving into a more experimental position. Original copies of the first album still command remarkable prices, despite recent reissues by BGO in the U.K. and Si-Wan in Asia.