Inkubus Sukkubus are an English

goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

and pagan rock 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 Michael Mercer, 19 July 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth and punk scenes. Life and work Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the Gothic rock scene that emerged fro ...

as a "zombie version of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

" 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 (known before the 20th century 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, ...

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'') 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 (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

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

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...

'', performing the track 'Heartbeat Of The Earth'. The band have played many of Europe's major dark alternative festivals including Amphi, M'era Luna, and the

Wave-Gotik-Treffen The (WGT; German for "Wave Gothic Meeting") is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, Electronic body music, EBM, Industrial music, indust ...

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

St Briavels Castle St Briavels Castle (most likely named after Saint Brioc) is a moated Norman architecture, Norman castle at St Briavels in the England, English county of Gloucestershire. The castle is noted for its huge Edward I of England, Edwardian gatehouse t ...

in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

– a celebration of midsummer with

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

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

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

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, Nick Gibbs on

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, and Marcus Gilvear on

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

. *Candia McKormack – vocals, lyrics,

*Tony McKormack – guitar, keyboards, mandolin, lute, production, songwriting, lyrics, programming, video creation, vocals (ex- Screaming Dead, 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 her 'Faith' exhibition, at

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...

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

Rachel Treweek Rachel Treweek (née Montgomery; born 4 February 1963) is an English Anglican bishop who has served as Bishop of Gloucester since 2015 and is the joint third female bishop in the Church of England, and first female diocesean bishop. A former spe ...

, attended. (Members of Inkubus Sukkubus are wiccans)

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'' *2023: ''She Of A Thousand Names''

Compilation albums

*1998: ''Away with the Faeries'' *2005: ''Wytches and Vampyres: The Best Of'' (Greatest Hits compilation released by US record label

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...

) *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''

Bibliography

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

References

External links

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