First Utterance

What an excellent pick 😌 This is one of my personal favourite records. There isn’t really another band that sounds like them, except for bands that heard this record and wanted to do the same thing. Some of my fellow reviewers have complained about it being demented or disgusting, but that’s exactly the appeal! And right when we’ve been introduced to the ugly world of ”Diana”, we’re faced with the spellbinding ”The Herald”. This isn’t an album you can reduce to a simple statement, rather it is one you can get lost in for years

OK, so I'll state up front that this, on the first blush, seems like some bullshit gnomes and goblins prog tosh. It does, thankfully, have some genuinely interesting music in it.

There was a hole in my 1970s rock/folk knowledge and that was Comus. First Utterance is maybe not one of the best albums I ever heard, but it is an experience never to forget. I cannot remember an album that intrigued me this much in years. It is full of organic, black and disrupting folk songs that sound like desperate cries from the depths of a deep abyss. Progressive folk from 1971 that is so dirty that Lankum sounds like a bunch of choir kids.

I will repeat this until I die: Fucky goblin music is the greatest music genre of all time and we desperately need more stuff like this. One of the best albums of all time. Literally not even a single second on this album that I'd cut or change in any way. If anything, the fact that "Drip, Drip" doesn't last an hour and a half is this album's biggest sin.

Wow... Incredible pick by genius user... A 1971 [genre], [genre-genre] album, with some [genre] and [genre] mixed in. At the time of this album the countercultural movement had blazed across every form of media in the west, with subjects like death and drugs and sexual proclivities becoming normalized especially in music. But who was truly exploring the extremities of the human condition? Only a handful few, of which Comus was most certainly a big part of. Murderous madness and rape turned out to be quite a lot less marketable than generic ballads about the Vietnam War and even the usual progressive crowd rejected this album, preferring a safer examination into themes of societal issues and alienation that bands like King Crimson and Pink Band were providing. Okay that's great and all but how does it sound? Well it is not an easy listen but it is an undeniable masterpiece... High points are the dark, folky use of fiddle and the incredible percussive work throughout the album. The singing is best in the background adjoining the rest of the instrumental soundscape in the form of melodic chants and aggressive hollering, whereas the lead vocals and lyrical reciting by Roguh Wootton are kinda poop shit fuck poop. 5 STAARS. FIVE STAAARS FOR THIS...

I approached the words "Progressive Folk" with intense dread. No offense to either genre, but I don't really connect with folk, and I don't really connect with prog rock either. However, whatever this is, it works for me. It reminds me of Godspeed You Black Emperor at times with how darkly ambient it can be before swelling back into a song 4/5

Engagingly wierd and ahead of its time, but also uneven overall and frequently crossing the line into pretty demented territory. I can see this working very well as the soundtrack to some Wickerman-esque British pastoral horror film. As an album to sit and listen to for musical enjoyment... I don't regret the time spent with it, but doubt I'll be seeking out more.

Made me feel like I was on some pagan ritual with some songs. Very weird at times, but enjoyable none the less

Fascinating album - perfect feel for the Halloween season!

I've come across this one before- it's uncomfortable in places but iconic. Hard to believe it was two art students. Mesmeric and inviting. It's like a singular glistening gem, never repeated.

new favorite album just dropped?! (5 years before my dad was born) I’ve always been a diehard fan of freak folk, and this truly does EVERYTHING perfectly; a flawless album that sounds WAY too modern for its time I listened to this on loop about three times in a row lol, way too fuckin good to rate

Oh...the magical year that is 1971! This album pulls no punches. It’s unapologetically pagan, especially in its exploration of rape. I can see how it might be unsettling for the modern listener, but just read a little mythology and see how common the theme of ravishment is. And I use the word “ravish” advisedly. I’ve listened to this many times, and each time I listen, I focus on a different aspect of it, from the overall impression of the world that I perceived--a world larger than life--to the feeling that everything in a pagan forest is simultaneously both brighter and darker--the contrasts are more stark, the colors more vivid. Everything about it is more. This is probably the best pagan (music) fanfic ever made. For film, it's obviously "The Wicker Man". Some pagans play the Christians at their own game: "yes yes, you go to receive your martyr's crown, and we use your blood to rejuvenate the soil, so what are you whining about?" I warn you to pay the Herald no mind, and if you heed not my warning, well, then, you get what's coming to you.

The musical equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting

I listened to this once before and didn’t like it Needless to say I changed my mind

Worked for me, but mainly as background music whilst doing other things. But the building intensity and random paths it was taking made me enjoy. 3.9

A surprising amount of depth to the lyrics. A decent "story album". Can't imagine grabbing for this at all though.

Cool that Opeth got an album title from this

Spännande album. Finns ett å annat guldkorn här.

Finally something more interesting - loved it This surely influenced some of my fave muscians

When Hobbits take LSD the Shire gets weird and I love it!

What a confusing ass listen. On one hand I would absolutely see these guys headline some kinda psychedelic Rennfest, and other times it was just straight up weird. Honestly really fell into a groove as it went on. Some great guitar strumming. As it went on I could hear how Jefferson Airplane would be an influence to them. This is a confused 4.

Fairport Convention goes full goth. Which amounts a little to The Incredible String Band tells you horror stories in dark dark woods. It's an interesting curio -- so interesting that I can't help placing it in my four-star gallery -- even if the word "curio" might feel somewhat unfair at this point, when "Diana" now reaches one billion streams (!) on my streaming service. One can smell the cult flavors of this thing from a mile out... I don't think *everything* works on a purely musical standpoint : some of the lengthier tracks ("The Herald", "Drip Drip") could very easily have been edited to become way more cohesive. But some elements definitely stand out. First of all, there are the crazy vocals (the female choir on closer "The Prisoner" really invokes a mental picture -- "mental" in all senses of the word -- of a witches' sabbath). But there's also the amazing work on those frantic fiddles played on "Diana", "Drip Drip" or "Song To Comus", definitely my favorite song within the album by the way. These are the sorts of details that make that 1971 debut one-of-a-kind. Is the record as original and groundbreaking as its critical reputation suggests, though? I'm not so sure... The second side is admittedly more dynamic as a whole. Yet in a sense, what we have here is basically an acoustic, "unplugged" version of Jethro Tull's artistry (and the more prevalent use of a flute in that second half certainly strengthens that impression of mine). Under that light, I doubt the comparison between *First Utterance* with the work currently done by Lankum I've read in one of the reviews is totally warranted -- not to mention the review comparing Comus and GY!BE, which only holds water for the short introduction of "The Herald", or maybe for bits of the "Bitten" interlude... I still pushed the "like" button for those reviews to express the good taste of those reference points. But they're not ideal to describe the exact contents of the record for me. Anyways... As generous as my final grade is, I won't place this record in my own potential list of 1001 keepers, mostly because 1001 feels too short a number right now. But *First Utterance* certainly has its place in a list of cult albums rediscovered later on. Such a book should definitely be written. And this LP would most surely find its place in that publication's "spooky" section. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 87 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 110 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 224 (including this one) ---- Yo, Émile. Je t'ai enfin répondu. Regarde sous... *Demon Days*, de Gorillaz, au-dessus ! 😉

Psychedelic folk, progressive folk. Ni fu ni fa.

This is interesting for sure. Dark and sort of disturbing. Not sure I would listen again, but glad I heard it at least once. 3 stars.

Could’ve come out yesterday and it wouldn’t surprise me

Prog folk/psychadelic folk from the 70s. It's like they took folk music of the Pentangle/Fairport Convention style and crossed it with King Crimson. And then took it to a very dark place. Favorite songs: The Prisoner, Diana, Drip Drip, Song to Comus Least favorite songs: Bitten 3/5

Interesting listen.

October 15, 2025 As one of the psychos who gave the Incredible String Band 5 stars, I assumed I would greatly appreciate this other strange folk album. And I appreciate it, but I don't love it at this time. The vocals are especially off-putting, especially in the opener "Diana", albeit appropriate for a spooky October night. The lyrics are also creepy, but not always in a good way. Based on the fact I listened to this on the 15th, then the 16th, and am writing this on the 17th possibly means I'm still processing this album. The flute-laden instrumentals are often transcendent.

Pretty good. Prog folk is interesting.

Definitely ahead of its time and this kinda thing would play much better today. Can't say I'm the largest fan of it overall. Kinda long dull folk rocky stuff. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Slight no.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Diana

I like the instrumentation a lot but the lyrics are kind of gross and unpleasant!

Prog folk is what the worst folks at the renaissance fair are listening to on their way home and that’s nice for them. I’m not sure I personally need 1hr 11 minutes of it

I found Mikael Åkerfeldt's account.

Especie de folk-rock con canciones melódicas e instrumentales. Evocadoras de sueños. Algo diferente de escuchar, aunque no engancha del todo

Everything has its fans, am I right? Listen to this, I enjoyed the vibe, and I only thought how crazy the 70s were to build material for this kind of progressive folk stuff.

Split some of these longer songs in two. They don’t sound like they go together. There was an obsession with making long songs in this genre at this time. It didn’t need to happen. Was there a point to it? Why make the songs long just to make them long? I need serious help. Please help me. Am I worth saving? Are any of us? Why do we keep going? I liked this album a little. Just a little boring, nothing much going on. Respect the vision, though. 3/5

Certainly an interesting and eclectic sound.

combines the worst excesses of folk and prog - long weird songs about nothing, played (in part) on bizarrely chosen instruments. The singer (or singers?) didn't have great diction either, meaning that even picking up the words was tricky at point, let alone figuring out what they were on about. Not actively terrible, but a long way short of my top 1,001 from this project so far. I am somehow still glad to have heard it, if that makes sense!

Well that was an interesting one. I can't say I disliked it as I can appreciate it for what it is, but it's not something I'd listen to on my own accord. It's different and kind of sounds like a soundtrack to some medieval D&D quest.

What in tarnation was that entire album?? I felt like I was involuntarily thrown into a k-hole. Especially the very end of that last song where it was alternating left and right headphones. 3/5 would recommend doing every drug on planet earth and listening to this.

This was an interesting one for sure. I dont even think I could give this one a number grade. On a scale on red to violet, it gets a green.

Fuck the stereo manipulation on The Prisoner. Few production tricks have pissed me off quicker or left quite so sour a taste in my mouth. Otherwise, this is a wonky one to be sure. Not bad, and nothing if not interesting. Drip Drip was probably my favorite on here. Otherwise, some dilapidated funhouse mirror type of folk that is very likely the product of heavy experimental drug use. I'm glad for the exposure, but likely will never be back again. 3 / 5.

Un-fucking-compromising folk

Hm

Sorry this just isn’t my cup of tea.

Didn't strike me very much. At this point I have heard other similar folkish off center stuff. Maybe this came before?

Oh spare me. I'm on the 4th song and want to throw myself off a bridge. It gets more than 1 because the guitars are actually very cool in places. But the overall thing is just disgusting tbh. 2/5.

Lengthy folk LP that doesn't go anywhere or say much of anything – purely a matter of taste, just never understand the journeys that the albums in this genre go on.

They certainly commit to the bit. Freaky folk. For me, this can only be classified as "performance art", not to appreciate for any musical sensibilities. Definitely a labor to get through.

I didn’t care so much for the vocals but the music itself was decent. With time I could probably give this a 3/5, but my initial listen seems it a 2. Okay

Definitely and heavily influenced by King Crimson. Weird, experimental hippie music that veers from foreboding to exhausting.

Not one for me. What I am sure is a relaxing and soothing album for some was a cheese grater on styrofoam for me.

This was something out of a pagan cult. I’m sure Charles Manson had to have listened to this once in his life. The first song was pretty weird and it got a little less weird as it continued but overall just some of the weirdest compilation of sounds. Not quite sure what the allure of it is but no thank you. 2.9/10

It might be because of an interminably long waiting game on the labour ward but First Utterance was crap. 1.