FLUXEUROPA: INKUBUS SUKKUBUS

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INKUBUS SUKKUBUS

Biography and Heartbeat of the Earth review both reproduced with kind permission from Alex Novak's BIZARRE magazine.

The founder member of Inkubus Sukkubus is Tony McKormack who was also the founder of the pre-gothic punk rock band, The Screaming Dead. The Screaming Dead released five singles during their career, and in 1993 a retrospective CD album entitled Bring Out Yer Dead. When The Screaming Dead split up in 1986, Tony McKormack formed several other bands including The Resurrection, Star Child and The Night Creatures. However, none of these bands were long lasting and in 1988 Tony became a graphic design student.

It was at design school that he met Candia. Tony and Candia both shared an interest in the occult, paganism and vampires. Shortly after they formed the Inkubus Sukkubus prototype, Belas Knapp. After about six months the name Belas Knapp was dropped in favour of Inkubus Sukkubus. The original aim of the band (as it still is today) was to be the vehicle in which the celebration of the pagan experience could be conveyed.

After being in existence for about a year the band released their first single Beltaine (now deleted). The single received Radio 1 and regional radio airplay, but shortly after this the band split up. Candia and Tony formed Children of the Moon, a drum machine, sequencer and guitar based band. They went into the studio and recorded an album's worth of material. The material was very well received by the growing pagan underground.

In December 1991 Children of the Moon changed back to Inkubus Sukkubus The band played around Gloucestershire, Bristol and Oxford, and released all of the Children of the Moon material on one tape called Beltaine. In September 1992 the band recorded the album Belladonna and Aconite, which was released in October. By this time Inkubus Sukkubus were being hailed as Britain's premier pagan rock band.

1993 brought offers from independent record companies, which resulted in the release of Belladonna & Aconite CD on Nightbreed Records in October and the Wytches CD in April 1994 on Pagan Records. During 1993 the band toured twice with Nosferatu and became regulars at the London Marquee and Nottingham Rock City. The band's following grew and so did their fame. They appeared on the BBC World Service and in several European, American and Far East magazines.

In 1994 they did two headline UK tours, played in Paris and also supported the likes of The Damned, Zodiac Mindwarp, Clawfinger, Patricia Morrison and the Marionettes. In 1995 Inkubus Sukkubus played alongside The Mission, Genitorturers and Danzig at two prestigious German festivals. The band have recently signed to Resurrection Records and have a new album out entitled Heartbeat of the Earth. They are on a nationwide tour at the moment and are in the process of writing material for their next release.

ALEX NOVAK
Posted here 6 May 1996

The UK's foremost pagan rock band look set to have a rosy 1996. They mix many styles into their musical alchemy: touches of folk and classical alongside more rock and gothic elements. If you could imagine Fleetwood Mac melded with Sleeping Dogs Wake with a touch of the Sisters' grandiose orchestrations you would get pretty close to their raison d'être. Truly they have managed to turn lead into gold with the essential elements of Candia's distinctive voice and Tony's memorable guitar lines. It will be interesting to see how well this ilk of music does, a commercial romantic gothic much akin to London After Midnight. Will it be able to straddle between underground and mainstream? Others have tried and a recent example would be Rosetta Stone's attempts to gain mass adulation.

ALEX NOVAK
Posted here 6 May 1996

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