Inkubus Sukkubus

Inkubus Sukkubus are a British pagan band formed in 1989 by Candia Ridley, Tony McKormack, and Adam Henderson.

History

Inkubus Sukkubus are a British pagan band who have been releasing albums and touring since their formation as Incubus Succubus in 1989.

Before forming Incubus Succubus, Tony McKormack (guitar) was in the horror punk band Screaming Dead from 1980 to 1985. McKormack and Adam Henderson (bass) then formed a band called Belas Knapp. The name was changed to Incubus Succubus when they were joined by Candia Ridley on vocals. From the outset the band had a very strong neo-pagan orientation. The first single, "Beltaine", and a matching EP, were recorded in 1989, as was the original version of the first album, "Belladonna And Aconite". The line-up listed on the sleve of the 7" Beltaine single is: Candia - Vocals, Tony McKormack - Guitars/Vocals, Adam Henderson - Bass, Jamie Gardner - Keyboards, Bob Gardner - Drums. However when the first pressing of the EP came back warped, several members left the band.

Tony and Candia continued alone as a studio project, Children Of The Moon, until 1993. The material recorded during this time (including early versions of tracks that would become Inkubus Sukkubus classics) was eventually released as the album "Beltaine".

In late 1993 Inkubus Sukkubus re-formed with Bob Gardner on drums, signed to Pagan Media, released the full-length version of "Belladona and Aconite", and in 1994 recorded and released "Wytches". Wytches subsequently became known as "the legendary second album", as it both contains what many fans regard as some of the band's finest work, and (due to issues with Pagan Media), rapidly became almost impossible to obtain.

In 1995 they changed their name to Inkubus Sukkubus, citing numerological reasons, and changed their line-up significantly, adopting the use of a drum machine with some additional support by a bodhran instead of a dedicated human drummer, with Adam Henderson moving back to bass.

The group surfaced into the mainstream several times (with the song Beltaine receiving Radio 1 airtime and with several TV appearances under their belt, mainly in the mid-nineties). This is despite their lyrical themes and beliefs: Inkubus Sukkubus are a neopagan band, known for songs about demons, vampires, faeries and other occult and supernatural themes. Their songs are largely inspired by their interest in and practice of witchcraft and paganism, which has gained them a certain notoriety and underground status as being the "voice of modern-day paganism". They have begun experimenting with unconventional instruments such as dulcimers and more challenging song structures.

They were due to play a gig in Mexico City on Beltane (May 1) 2009. When it was cancelled due to the outbreak of Swine Flu, the bands received national media exposure, particularly through The Sun newspaper.

Membership

The group consists of guitarist Tony McKormack, vocalist Candia, and bassist Adam Henderson. Candia is the main vocalist, but McKormack does some backing vocals, and sings one song, "Atrocity", on his own. The band employs a drum machine to fill their percussion section.

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Inkubus Sukkubus; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.

Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkubus Sukkubus