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
Hail The Holly King
Inkubus Sukkubus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And through the naked trees.
On a cold winter's night,
His song is on the breeze.
Where the moonlight paints the frost,
Upon the robin's song.
He's come a-calling for us all,
Hark! Hear the children sing,
Glory to the Holly King.
In the whiskey and in the wine,
He is here this Yuletide time.
A-dancing in the home-fire flames,
Dancing, singing, playing games.
When the prayers are to the East,
He is with us at the feast.
His crown is nailed to the door,
He's with us forevermore!
Hark! Hear the children sing,
Glory to the Holly King.
Let the jingle bells all ring,
Hail, hail the Holly King.
Underneath the mistletoe,
He is in all lover's hearts.
He fans the flames of desire,
It is he who fires Cupid's darts.
He is in all children's dreams,
Dressed in red or dressed in green.
Riding on the astral sleigh,
He's a spirit of the day!
Hark! Hear the children sing,
Glory to the Holly King.
Let the jingle bells all ring,
Hail, hail the Holly King.
Hark! Hear the children sing,
Glory to the Holly King.
Let the jingle bells all ring,
Hail, hail the Holly King.
Hark! Now hear the children sing,
Glory to the Holly King.
Let the jingle bells all ring,
Hail, hail the Holly King.
The song "Hail the Holly King" by Inkubus Sukkubus is a pagan tribute to the winter solstice and the celebration of Yule. It speaks of the presence of the Holly King, a figure from Celtic mythology who rules over the darker half of the year, from the autumn equinox to the spring equinox. He is associated with the barren trees, the frosted landscape, and the cold weather of winter. The song describes how he goes around visiting people during Yuletide, joining in their celebrations and making their hearts warm with his presence. His song is on the breeze, his fire dances in the flames, and he is present in the mistletoe and the children's dreams. The chorus of "Hark! Hear the children sing, Glory to the Holly King, Let the jingle bells all ring, Hail, hail the Holly King" is an invitation to celebrate his presence and honor his power.
The Holly King symbolizes the cycle of life and death, the ending of one year and the beginning of the next. His rule over the winter months represents the phase of withdrawal, dormancy, and introspection that precedes the rebirth of nature in the spring. By celebrating his presence and giving him offerings, people acknowledge this cycle and align themselves with the rhythms of nature. The Holly King is also associated with fertility and passion, as he is the one who fires Cupid's darts and is present in all lovers' hearts. His presence in the home and the feast reminds people to cherish their loved ones and to appreciate the warmth and comfort of their hearth and home.
Line by Line Meaning
All across the virgin snow,
His presence can be felt everywhere, even in the untouched snow.
And through the naked trees.
He is present through the barren trees, symbolizing his presence even in lifeless things.
On a cold winter's night,
He comes to us during the darkest and most difficult times, bringing warmth and comfort.
His song is on the breeze.
His essence is carried by the wind, reminding us of the power of nature.
Where the moonlight paints the frost,
He is present in even the smallest details of nature, like frost formed by moonlight.
Upon the robin's song.
The sound of the robin's song signifies his arrival and presence.
He's come a-calling for us all,
He is calling to all of us to come together and celebrate.
Now the summer's gone!
As summer ends, the season of darkness and the Holly King's reign begins.
Hark! Hear the children sing,
The voices of children carry the message of his arrival and the joy of the season.
Glory to the Holly King.
To honor the Holly King is to celebrate the power of nature and the cycle of life.
In the whiskey and in the wine,
His presence can also be felt in the traditional drinks shared during the season.
He is here this Yuletide time.
His presence is especially strong during Yuletide, or the Winter Solstice.
A-dancing in the home-fire flames,
He dances in the flames of the hearth, bringing warmth and light to the home.
Dancing, singing, playing games.
He enjoys the festivities and encourages people to enjoy themselves during this time.
When the prayers are to the East,
During rituals and ceremonies, people often face East when invoking him.
He is with us at the feast.
During the feast, his presence is felt as people celebrate with food and drink.
His crown is nailed to the door,
A symbolic representation of his presence and protection, his crown is placed on the door for all to see.
He's with us forevermore!
His presence is not limited to the season, but is felt throughout the year.
Let the jingle bells all ring,
The sound of the jingle bells brings the joy of the season and reminds us of his presence.
Hail, hail the Holly King.
To honor the Holly King is to celebrate the power of nature and its cycles.
Underneath the mistletoe,
He is present in the traditions of kissing under the mistletoe, bringing love and joy to all.
He is in all lover's hearts.
He is the embodiment of love and passion, and is present in all matters of the heart.
He fans the flames of desire,
He ignites the passion in all of us, encouraging us to live and love fully.
It is he who fires Cupid's darts.
He is the force behind the power of love, symbolized by Cupid's arrows.
He is in all children's dreams,
He is present in the imagination of children, making the holidays magical.
Dressed in red or dressed in green.
He takes different forms in different cultural traditions, adapting to each one.
Riding on the astral sleigh,
He travels through the spiritual realm, bringing blessings and good tidings to all.
He's a spirit of the day!
Despite being associated with the darkness of winter, he is also a spirit of the day, bringing the light of hope and renewal.
Hark! Now hear the children sing,
The voices of children continue to carry the message of hope and joy during the season.
Contributed by Sydney O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
LeviathanSpeaks1469
Hail the Holly King this Yuletide Year!
helseggen
Me encanta!!!
Zeph
A Merry Solstice to all of our Kin, in 2018 )O(x
Anne Ni liam
blessed be]