35 years after disbanding, Comus are back together. The long, long-awaited reunion of this cult folk band, who are famed amongst record collectors for claiming fantastically high prices for their vinyl, has been helped in no small part by internet chat rooms and a Swedish metal band.

In 1967, 17 year-old students Roger Wootten and Glenn Goring, both fans of the Velvet Underground and Bert Jansch, began jamming together at the Art Lab, a London club run by David Bowie. Laying the foundations for what would become Comus, Wootten and Goring developed a progressive, psychedelic folk sound. Once violinist Colin Pearson, bassist Andy Hellaby, percussionist Bobbie Watson, and flautist Michael Bammie Rose were assembled, Comus was born.

Comus take their name from John Milton’s 17th century masque, an elaborate, eclectic type of performance favoured in European courts of the day. The debauched title character Comus is a creature inspired by the god of revelry who tries to tempt a virtuous maiden into sexual acts. Wootten was directly inspired by Milton’s writing, and feelings of confusion, despair and fear run right through Comus’ work. Lyrics on First Utterance frequently touch on darker themes such as rape, mental disorder and murder and Comus accompany this dramatic lyrical quality with a blend of acoustic guitars, percussion, violin and flutes. Wootten’s raw and powerful voice is mixed in brilliantly with the often animal-like backing vocals of the group.

Before recording their first album Rose was replaced by pianist Rob Young, who taught himself flute, oboe and bongos just so that he could play with the band. Their passionate and breathtaking live displays gathered fans from all across the UK, and a support slot for Bowie in 1970 garnered them a record deal. The brilliant, psychedelic First Utterance was released in 1971, but commercial success eluded the band, their momentum waned and a year later they broke up – only for Wootten, Hellaby, and Watson to reform the band and record the more accessible but again commercially unsuccessful follow-up record To Keep From Crying, on the fledgling Virgin label. They split again.

Comus and their music might have died forever, were it not for the modern wonder of the internet. Over 20 years after the split, First Utterance was re-released and became infectiously popular amongst folk enthusiasts in online chat room and forums. This newly found popularity was aided by Mikael Åkerfeldt, the lead singer of Swedish metal band Opeth, who constantly referenced the band, named an album after their song My Arms, Your Hearse, and organised their 2008 appearance at his friend’s Melloboat Festival in Sweden. 2009’s Comus reunion will provide their audiences with a much anticipated chance to see a cult band with immense skill and power, and with a real history.