After being in existence for about a year the band released their first single, Beltaine, which received Radio 1 and regional airplay. However, shortly after this some members of the band drifted away leaving just Candia & Tony. The couple, however, continued in the form of Children of the Moon, a studio-based project in much the same vein as Incubus Succubus. Their material was very well received by the growing Pagan underground scene.
In December 1991 Bob, the original for Incubus Succubus. drummer, rejoined Candia & Tony, and Incubus Succubus was consequently reborn. The band played around Gloucestershire, Bristol and Oxford, and released all of the Children of the Moon material on one cassette album called Beltaine.
In 1992 the band recorded the album Belladonna & Aconite which was released in October. By this time Incubus Succubus 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 on CD 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 Marquee in London and Nottingham's 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 Eastern magazines. In 1994 they recorded the EP Corn King, did two headline UK tours, played Paris and also supported the likes of The Damned, Zodiac Mindwarp, Clawfinger, Patricia Morrison and The Marionettes. At the very end of December, shot their video "Wytches" at the notorious Barrow Wake Woods.
In 1994 Incubus Succubus continued touring, and relesed the album "WYTCHES".
In 1995 Incubus Succubus played alongside The Mission, Genitorturers and Danzig at two prestigious German festivals. By this time they had also appeared on many compilation Gothic CDs including What Sweet Music... I & II released by Thee Vampire Guild, Dreams in the Witch House released by Grave News, Touched by the Hand of Goth from Euromedia and Jungle's Gothic Rock 2. In 1995 they signed to Resurrection Records and released the much-awaited album Heartbeat of the Earth at the end of October. The album was promoted with a successful tour where the new material was welcomed with enthusiasm.
In the spring of `95 it was decided that the spelling of the band's name would change to Inkubus Sukkubus for numerological reasons, and with this came other notable changes. The live band went through a stunning metamorphosis and they now play with a drum machine and full programmed orchestral backing from sequencers giving the richness and diversity of sound and emotion previously found only in the recorded band. Bob returned to his first instrument and began to play bass guitar for Inkubus Sukkubus, and the distinctive celtic bodhran was maintained as an integral part of the live as well as recorded I.S. In March 1996 Inkubus Sukkubus appeared on the popular British nationwide television programme, The Big Breakfast and were filmed playing live by The Girlie Show, another nationwide quirky youth show!
In May/June 1996 I.S. did a very successful tour of Germany - including a return trip to Paris - so winning over a new army of followers. They returned to Germany as well as playing for the first time in Belgium in the Autumn of 1996. Also in 1996, by popular demand, the band's first album, Beltaine, was released on CD for the first time through Resurrection Records. On 23rd November 1996 Inkubus Sukkubus were invited to perform at the Pagan Federation's 25th Anniversary Annual Conference. The day was a great success, and the band rounded it off by playing to an enthusiastic spiral dancing crowd. During 1996 Adam Henderson rejoined the band as bass guitarist.
1997 brought more appearances on compilation CDs including the 3rd and final Vampire Guild release, What Sweet Music... R.I.P. with their track Vampyre Erotica; the CD to accompany Mick Mercer's new book, The Hex Files with the track Heart of Lilith; a 4 CD compilation (Cleopatra Records) called The Goth Box; and a cover version of Spellbound on a Siouxsie & the Banshees tribute CD also on Cleopatra. On 24th August 1997, six weeks after the birth of Tony and Candia's baby boy Leon, the band headlined a major convention at the Hippodrome in London - Vampyria - featuring many well-known horror authors as well as stars from the world of Hammer to over 1000 enthusiastic fans. The band released their fifth album, Vampyre Erotica, exploring wilder as well as more sombre and haunting moods. It was released 22nd September 1997 and was promoted by a series of UK dates including headlining the now-famous Whitby Gothic Weekend on Hallowe'en.
1998 proved to be a very exciting year for Inkubus Sukkubus. In February they headlined The Bank in Manhattan, New York promoted by Sabretooth Inc. to a capacity audience. They returned to Belgium in the spring, and during the summer they headlined a major festival held in a medieval castle in the Polish mountains. They also headlined the annual Sacrosanct festival in London. September 1998 found the band performing at Vampyria II which was held at the Camden Palace in London to a capacity crowd of around 1600 people, shortly followed by Symphony of Shadows Festival at Whitby, N. Yorkshire (home of Bram Stoker's Dracula). Inkubus were also invited back to play the Annual Pagan Federation Conference on 21st November where around 1700 pagans attended from all over the world. They also returned to the U.S. at the end of October to tour, culminating in a show in New Orleans on Hallowe'en. The CD entitled Away with the Faeries, was previewed at Vampyria II, and was available on general release in November. The recording was a limited edition album featuring 6 new studio tracks along with 9 live tracks recorded recently in the band's home town of Cheltenham.
In 1999 Inkubus Sukkubus toured Germany, France Belgium, America, as well as the UK. They also released the album entitled ' Wild'. They continued to consolidate their position as the world's biggest and most popular Pagan Rock band and launched their domain site, www.inkubussukkubus.com.
During 2000 Inkubus Sukkubus toured the UK and Germany and Inkubus Sukkubus headlined the Whitby Gothic Festival (at the time the biggest Gothic Festival in the World). The band wrote and recorded their 8th album, 'Supernature', and also played Greece and France. The year was seen out headlining a celebratory Yule festival in Chicago, USA.
2001 saw Inkubus Sukkubus go from strength to strength. They appeared three times on Channel 4 television this year, and also released their eighth album 'Supernature' on vinyl and CD (with CD-ROM section). The band toured the UK and headlined the Gotham Festival in London. They also headlined the Reading Goth Festival, and supported Marilyn Manson on the mainstage at the M'era Luna Festival to an audience of over 24,000. The year also saw Inkubus Sukkubus make major intrusions into cyberspace; in the first six months or so, their MP3 site www.mp3.com/inkubussukkubus had over 400,000 downloads. The Band finished of the year by playing the 10th Anniversary of the Return of the Dead festival in Hamburg, and a couple of gigs in an unexpectedly snowy, yet still welcoming, Italy.
2002 saw the band increase their profile on the Internet becoming the most downloaded Goth band in the world. They also re-released the WYTCHES album and continued to play Europe and the UK.
During 2003 The band have released their 9th album "The Beast with Two Backs" on October 31st . The Band also played Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, UK and Germany, Including the Wave Gotik Treffen in Liepzig. They played The Black Elben Festival - Dortmund, and Headlined the Whitby Goth Festival with Wayne Hussey and All About Eve, aswell as Playing The Witchfest Festival in London with the Medieval Baebes. The Band have also went on to be the most downloaded UK band on MP3.COM with 1,500,000+ downloads.
During 2004 Inkubus Sukkubus Headlined the Gotham Festival in London and played a charity gig at the Gloucester Guildhall. The band also wrote most of the tracks for the next album that will be released in 2005. The Band were also active on Soundclick maintaining the number one position in the Goth Rock chart for almost the entire year.
In 2005 Inkubus Sukkubus played a series of dates in the UK , Sweden, Norway and Denmark, Russia and Australia, they also released their tenth album, called "Witchqueen".
In 2006 Inkubus Sukkubus continued playing across Europe with gigs in the UK, Portugal, Turkey and Germany, they also made two videos for Church of Madness and Wytches, as well as an unreleased one for Vampire Erotica, Tony McKormack also made five videos with his side project Vampire Division.
In 2007 the band played more live dates in the UK and Europe and released the Album Science and Nature.
2008, and Inkubus Sukkubus began playing the UK with their new animated video backdrop, produced by band guitarist Tony McKormack .The band also released the album Viva la Muerte .
In 2009 Inkubus Sukkubus celebrated their 20th Anniversary . With 13 albums relesed to date, hundereds of gigs played and millions of internet downloads they have so far had a long and productive career.During 2009 they played several dates including Finland, Lithuaniaina, Germanyand Mexico. The actually performed tracks from the their newly released Mexican themed Album, "Viva la Muerte" on The Mexican Day of the Dead in Mexico City. The also played several gigs performing acoustic versions of their popular tracks. They are currently writting new material for a future release.
In 2010 Inkubus Sukkubus released, Viva la Muerte internationally. Inkubus Sukkubus also had the track Death Comes available to download and play in the video game Rock Band, here . And four more tracks were released in this format throughout the year. 2010 also saw Bob Gardener return to the band as bass guitaris, and the re-release of the WYTCHES album as a special edition digi pack using artwork based on the original concept dating back to 1993. Inkubus Sukkubus also released the Dark Goddess Album, which is considered by some to be their greatest work. The album was initially only available for sale from their website.
2011 The Dark Goddess album has been repressed, and was released internationally in February, The band's first CD album Belladonna & Aconite was also digitally re-mastered and relesed in April) They contiued playing live and recorded another album entitled "The Goat" , which was initially available from their website and was on international release in February 2012. The Vampire Division (Tony McKormack's solo project) , Album, The Dead Unleashed was also released on October 31st.
2012 saw INKUBUS SUKKUBUS continue to play live in the UK and Europe. The Goat album was re-pressed earlier in the year and the band are currently recorded a new album which it is hoped to be released before the end of the year. During this year the band have also been working on the acoustic set that they sometimes play, with the incorperation of different songs. There are also plans to gradually release digitally remastered versions of all of the out of print albums.
2013 There are already several interesting developments this year for Inkubus Sukkubus. The forthcoming release of a double anthology album in the USA on Cleopatra Records, and the Release of Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell their 16th Album. Inkubus Sukkubus have also played Belgium and Germany, and headlined the Bram Stocker film festival in Whitby.
During 2013 the band will also played several Fairey Festivals and began remixing some of the all time favorite tracks, into new and interesting versions.
The band had their 25 year aniversary in 2014. In March Inkubus Sukkubus releaed their 18th Album entitled "Love Poltergeist", which has so far proven highly popular and has to date out sold all of their recent albums, those released since the advent of filesharing. The band are played several times throughout the year, in the UK, Europe. In May 2014 Inkubus Sukkubus was joined by Bassist Dave Saunders, who replaced Bob Gardener, who had to leave due to family comitments.
In 2015 Inkubus Sukkubus continued to perform in the UK, Scandinavia and Europe, They are also released another Album, entitled MOTHER MOON around the end of October.
2016 saw the release of the 20th Inkubus Sukkubus Album; "Barrow Wake", which is a compilation of tracks by the band that fall into the "Horror Folk" genre. The album consists of previously released material, re-recordings of older tracks and completely new material. Inkubus Sukkubus also released in the last monts of 2016, Wikka Woman their 21st Studio Album. Another voyage into the Supernatural Realm. This album clearly demonstrates the skill and determination of this unique band who are actually increasing in momentum with the passing of time.
2017 saw Inkubus Sukkubus releasing their 22nd Studio album "Belas Knapp" "Tales of Witchcraft and Wonder Part 2" which is intended as a companion album to "Barrow Wake" in the Summer. The band are also due to continue their gigging schedule in the UK , Europe and the Americas, in both their electric and extended acoustic formats, The band are had been joined by Roland Link on bass guitar, and for the extended acoustic version of the band have been joined by Marcus Gilvier, Nick Gibbs and Abi Blackman. Inkubus Sukkubus are also writing and recording a further vampire themed album, due for release in the Winter, and the third and final part of their "Horror Folk" trilogy. these releases are the band's 23rd and 24th albums, and are testament to their longevity and creative fire.
In 2003 Tony McKormack formed Vampire Division as a side project to Inkubus Sukkubus.
Official website: http://www.inkubussukkubus.com
All Along The Crooked Way
Inkubus Sukkubus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All along the crooked way
The same story once again
Of sorrow and of pain
One fool in a dream
One black-hearted queen
A tale of unrequited love
That's written in tears, written in blood
He begs, but she denies
As tonight becomes tomorrow
All joy will turn to sorrow
This is a tale of a succubus
A tale of love, pain and lust
And death, and death!
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Where there's love, there is lust
Where there's a boy to give his heart
There's a woman to tear it apart
Where there's giving, there's taking
There's faking, and there's breaking
Where there's trust deceit's right there
The dream becomes the nightmare!
To despair she'll take him
A shadow she'll make him
Before hi, the open grave
On his wrist, the razor blade
Young man, hang your head and cry
It's time to suffer, time to die
Abandon you the dreams of youth
Abandon love, hope and truth!
She will crush you, she'll excite you
She'll destroy you, she'll ignite you
She'll take you to a world of darkness
And hate, and death!
On a night of dread and wonder
Hear her heartbeat turn to thunder
Now's the time for soul surrender
And death, and death!
The lyrics of Inkubus Sukkubus's song, "All Along The Crooked Way," explore the theme of unrequited love and the pain, despair, and death it can bring. The song begins with a description of a dark, crooked path that symbolizes the journey of one who is captivated by love that is never returned. The story is a familiar one, told repeatedly through the ages, of a fool in love with a black-hearted queen who denies his affections, leaving him in tears and bloodshed. The chorus warns that love and lust are intertwined, and where there is one, there is often the other, leading to pain and heartache. The final verses reveal the ultimate outcome of such love, with the queen leading the young man to his death, destroying him completely as she consumes his very soul.
These lyrics demonstrate the powerful storytelling abilities of Inkubus Sukkubus, painting a vivid picture of a tragic love story that unfolds over the course of the song. The use of vivid imagery, such as the razor blade on the young man's wrist, and the reference to the "world of darkness and hate," creates a haunting atmosphere that stays with the listener long after the song has ended. Ultimately, the song is a cautionary tale, warning against the dangers of unrequited love and the seductive power of those who would exploit it.
Line by Line Meaning
Underneath the darkened sky
The events of this tale occur during a dark and ominous night.
All along the crooked way
This is a journey full of deception and treachery.
The same story once again
This tale is timeless and has repeated itself countless times before.
Of sorrow and of pain
The story is filled with sadness, suffering, and heartbreak.
One fool in a dream
A young man is lost in a fantasy that is doomed from the start.
One black-hearted queen
A wicked woman is at the center of this tale, causing misery and heartache.
A tale of unrequited love
The young man longs for the love of the black-hearted queen, but she does not feel the same way.
That's written in tears, written in blood
Their tragic story is etched in sorrow and pain, and will continue to haunt those who hear it.
She smiles, he cries
The queen appears happy, while the young man is deeply unhappy.
He begs, but she denies
Despite his pleas, the queen refuses to give the young man the love he desires.
As tonight becomes tomorrow
With the dawn of a new day, their ill-fated romance will come to its tragic conclusion.
All joy will turn to sorrow
Their brief moments of happiness will soon be overshadowed by even greater pain and despair.
This is a tale of a succubus
The black-hearted queen is a succubus, a demon that preys on the hearts and souls of men.
A tale of love, pain and lust
Their story is filled with powerful emotions, both good and bad, that drive their actions.
And death, and death!
Their ill-fated love will ultimately lead them both to their doom.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Ultimately, all lives end in death and decay.
Where there's love, there is lust
Love and lust are often intertwined, and can bring both pleasure and pain.
Where there's a boy to give his heart
The young man is foolishly giving his heart to the succubus, who will only destroy it.
There's a woman to tear it apart
The succubus delights in breaking the hearts of the men she seduces.
Where there's giving, there's taking
The succubus will take everything she can from the young man, giving nothing in return.
There's faking, and there's breaking
She will deceive and betray him, destroying his heart and his dreams.
Where there's trust deceit's right there
The young man's trust in the succubus will be his downfall, as she will betray him in the end.
The dream becomes the nightmare!
The young man's hopes and dreams will turn into a terrible nightmare that he cannot escape.
To despair she'll take him
The young man will be taken down a dark path of despair and pain by the succubus.
A shadow she'll make him
The succubus will strip him of his identity and turn him into a shadow of his former self.
Before him, the open grave
The young man will face his own mortality because of the succubus.
On his wrist, the razor blade
The young man will contemplate suicide as a way to escape the torment of his love for the succubus.
Young man, hang your head and cry
The young man will be overcome with grief and despair, unable to escape the misery wrought by the succubus.
It's time to suffer, time to die
The young man's fate is sealed, and he will suffer and die because of the succubus.
Abandon you the dreams of youth
The young man's hopes and dreams will be destroyed by the succubus, leaving him with nothing.
Abandon love, hope and truth!
The young man will be forced to abandon everything that matters to him in order to escape the pain of his love for the succubus.
She will crush you, she'll excite you
The succubus will bring the young man both pleasure and pain, crushing him under the weight of her power.
She'll destroy you, she'll ignite you
The succubus will bring the young man to the brink of destruction, igniting his passions and desires before extinguishing them.
She'll take you to a world of darkness
The succubus will lead the young man into a dark and dangerous world.
And hate, and death!
This world of darkness will be filled with hatred and death, leading the young man to his doom.
On a night of dread and wonder
The events of this tale occur on a night of great fear and uncertainty.
Hear her heartbeat turn to thunder
The succubus's heartbeat will grow louder and more intimidating as she exerts her power over the young man.
Now's the time for soul surrender
The young man must give himself up to the succubus, surrendering his soul to her completely.
And death, and death!
Doing so will lead to his ultimate demise, and his story will become just another tale of love, pain, and death.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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