Inkubus Sukkubus are an English

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

and

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

band, formed in 1989 by Candia Ridley, Tony McKormack and Adam Henderson, who have been described as one of the most enduringly popular underground Goth bands in the UK. They also have been described by

Mick Mercer Mick Mercer (born Bichael Bercer, 2 June 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth, punk and indie music scenes. Life and work Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the gothic scene and its mus ...

as a "zombie version of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

" in his book ''Hex Files: The Goth Bible''.

History

Inkubus Sukkubus have released albums and toured the UK and internationally ever since their formation as Incubus Succubus in 1989. In 1995, the band adopted the name Inkubus Sukkubus, citing

numerology Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...

as the reason for the change, and signed to Resurrection Records. The live line-up changed significantly, adopting the use of a drum machine and sequenced backing, with some additional support by a

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...

, and Adam Henderson moving back to bass. In 1996, the band appeared live on UK national television on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The pro ...

'', performing the track 'Heartbeat Of The Earth'. The band have played many of the major European dark alternative festivals including Amphi,

M'era Luna The M'era Luna is a rock festival that encompasses a number of different styles such as metal, future pop, aggrotech, synthpop, gothic rock, dark wave, and ebm. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, G ...

, and the

Wave-Gotik-Treffen The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, gothic metal, EBM, industrial, noise, darkwave, neo-folk, neo-cl ...

at Leipzig. In June 2017, the band hosted a weekend event at

St Briavels Castle St Briavels Castle is a moated Norman castle at St Briavels in the English county of Gloucestershire. The castle is noted for its huge Edwardian gatehouse that guards the entrance. St Briavels Castle was originally built between 1075 and 1129 a ...

in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

– a celebration of midsummer with

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, Egyptian dancing, and a

handfasting Handfasting is a traditional practice that, depending on the term's usage, may define an unofficiated wedding (in which a couple marries without an officiant, usually with the intent of later undergoing a second wedding with an officiant), a ...

ceremony.

Members

The group currently consists of guitarist Tony McKormack (ex-

Screaming Dead Screaming Dead are a punk rock band from Cheltenham formed in 1980, who have often been characterized as "horror punk". They released several singles and EPs with indie chart success, before splitting up in 1985. They reformed in 1997; disba ...

), vocalist Candia McKormack and bassist Roland Link. The band uses a drum machine and

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

to provide percussion and orchestral backing. They also perform as a fully acoustic act with Abigail Blackman on

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

, Nick Gibbs on

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, and Marcus Gilvear on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. *Candia McKormack – vocals, lyrics,

*Tony McKormack – guitar, keyboards, mandolin, lute, production, songwriting, lyrics, programming, video creation, vocals (ex-

, also in Vampire Division) *Roland Link – bass guitar In 2013, Candia was the model for a painting called ''The Sukkubus'', by the award winning fantasy artist,

Larry Elmore Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...

for use in his Kickstarter. In 2016, Candia was painted by artist Russell Haines for his 'Faith' exhibition, at

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...

. The band also performed at the launch event which the Bishop of Gloucester,

Rachel Treweek Rachel Treweek (née Montgomery; born 4 February 1963 at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire) is an Anglican bishop who sits in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. Since June 2015, she has served as Bishop of Gloucester, the first female diocesan bis ...

, attended.

Discography

Albums

*1990: ''Beltaine'' (independent release) *1993: ''Belladonna & Aconite'' *1994: ''Wytches'' *1995: ''Heartbeat of the Earth'' *1997: ''Vampyre Erotica'' *1998: ''Away with the Faeries'' *1999: ''Wild'' *2001: ''Supernature'' *2003: ''The Beast with Two Backs'' *2007: ''Science & Nature'' *2008: ''Viva la Muerte'' *2010: ''The Dark Goddess'' *2011: ''The Goat'' *2013: ''Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell'' *2014: ''Love Poltergeist'' *2015: ''Mother Moon'' *2016: ''Barrow Wake: Tales of Witchcraft and Wonder, Volume One'' *2016: ''Wikka Woman'' *2017: ''Belas Knap: Tales of Witchcraft and Wonder, Volume Two'' *2018: ''Vampire Queen'' *2018: ''Sabrina – Goddess of the Severn: Tales of Witchcraft and Wonder, Volume Three'' *2019: ''Lilith Rising'' *2021: ''The Way Of The Witch''

Compilation albums

*1998: ''Away with the Faeries'' *2004: ''Wytches and Vampyres: The Best Of'' (Greatest Hits compilation released by US record label

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

) *2013: ''The Anthology'' (Greatest Hits)

Singles and EPs

*1991: "Beltaine" *1994: "Corn King" *2005: ''Witch Queen'' (EP) *2018: ''Melancholy Blue'' limited edition 12" coloured vinyl

Movie soundtracks

*2010: ''

The Vampires of Bloody Island ''The Vampires of Bloody Island'' is a 2009 British comedy horror film directed by Allin Kempthorne and starring Pamela Kempthorne. The film also include stars Oliver Gray, John Snelling, and Leon Hamilton. The film had a theatrical release in the ...

Bibliography

*2020: ''Tales Of Witchcraft And Wonder''

References

External links

*
Inkubus Sukkubus at ReverbNation
* {{Authority control English hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1989 Modern pagan musical groups English gothic rock groups Modern paganism in the United Kingdom Musicians from Gloucestershire