Not a good introduction - Having read the other reviews, I feel duty bound to offer a contrary opinion.Over the past 15 years this band have frustrated as much as they ve delighted. On the one hand they re one of the most exciting live bands around. What with those rousing Celtic-folk-tinged rock anthems, combined with their athletic stage act and Candia s young-Cher-ish sexiness - they re guaranteed to excite even the most jaded audience, whilst turning mild-mannered Goth hardcores into dervish-dancing lunatics at the flick of a sequencer-switch. But...in the studio their extreme self-imposed limitations are all too apparent. Immersed in their own little world, unable or unwilling to absorb new influences, or notice when their creative machinery has ground to a halt, they ve taken self-derivativeness to ludicrous extremes, until (at worst) the listener may feel insulted, cheated out of their money.There s nothing wrong, as such, with using most of the same tune for two separate songs (Chuck Berry, Gary Numan and numerous blues artists have done it). And there s nothing wrong, as such, with recycling chord progressions (jazz thrives on it). But when a band or artist appears unable to do anything except conspicuously recycle pieces of their past - chord-progressions, melodies AND lyrics - with only changing synth timbres and production techniques to distinguish the new material from the old, they become beyond a joke.It s made worse by the fact that I.S have never completely burned themselves out: even their worst albums (i.e Wild) contain one or two songs in which they have a new idea worthy of further exploration and development. But they almost never explore and develop these ideas, instead these songs remain token glimpses of unfulfilled potential - possibly happy accidents, rather than the result of craft - as the band chooses to fall back on those same tired old riffs and tricks again and again.Which brings us to this compilation.What I.S needed was a 2 CD compilation which brought together their most creative material, proved that they were capable of diversity, made them seem more musically versatile than really are, at least on an individual album.Alas and alack, this isn t it. Where are those acoustic tracks (Gypsy Lament, Conquistador), those instrumentals (Whore of Babylon), those peculiar 80s AOR style numbers that pop up from time to time (Soul Inside, She Is Gone), those exquistely-arranged ballads (Trinity, Lammas Song) and the upbeat songs lifted right out of mediocrity by a new sound or two (Goblin Jig, Turnera)? They re not here!Instead we have a predictable selection of onstage crowd pleasers and/or live staples. To be sure there are some fine songs here - Vampyre Erotica with its peculiar list of personal services and occasionally harmonised vocals, Starchild proving they can write in a major-key if they want to, Preacher Man with those fabulously angry lyrics which actually presaged the Catholic child-abuse scandal of the early 00s, and the surely-immortal Belladonna and Aconite (which Candia once admitted was actually about the effects of hallucinogenic drugs).But there are too many songs which just go through the motions - no matter how many times they ve been played live, Heartbeat of the Earth, Take My Hunger, Catherine and Wild are far from first-grade I.S material. And sometimes they haven t picked the right versions: a slightly different mix of Heart of Lillith (sounding as if the tape had been slowed down) was released via BRV magazine in 95 and is definitely superior to the standard-issue version. And the fatal flaw remains: sameness. A full disc stuck in that one groove almost from start to finish - it does them no favors whatsoever.
music full of magic! - i love this cd, every song has a since of magic to it.the lead singer has a great voice and adds a special kind of magic to every song.i highly recomend this album to anyone into the pagan/wiccan scene.
Hi there - This is a really unique band. They use what sounds like a violin quite a bit, and also the sounds of a pipe organ. Combined with the electric guitar and drums, as well as the female singer s beautiful voice and well-written lyrics, the effect is quite haunting. The production isn t as good as it could be (you can hear tape hiss, and the sound is a little compressed), but the music is fantastic.
Best kept secret in goth music - These musicians are truly amazing. Deep, passionate, and spiritual lyrics. Is is honestly a shame how little is known about Inkubus Sukkubus in the U.S. especially the west coast.A diamond in the rough, if I dare to use the old cliche.Which apparently I do.
Wytches & Vampyres, oh my! - I don t know much about Inkubus Sukkubus. In fact I d never even heard anything by this group before chancing a buy of Wytches & Vampyres . In the past I was only familiar with their name but have always been curious to hear what their music sounds like, so naturally when Cleopatra Records released an affordable Best Of compilation featuring the highlights from their previous works, I just had to get this!Although I agree with another reviewer who complained about the poor quality of production here, which is weak like a lot of older 80s discs are where you have to crank up the volume just to retain even a fracture of the sound being projected, the songs all but make up for that. Candia has a killer voice that ll put you under a deepened spell while the drums hypnotize and the guitars send you soaring! If you re like me it s unfortunate your late in discovering this hidden gem but now is a good enough time then ever to definitely check out this Pagan Goth band (especially if you enjoy Faith and the Muse and Switchblade Symphony) since there s really not a whole lot of respectable Goth music being made anymore, and this is hands-down some of the best I ve had the dark pleasure of hearing, most notable tracks being Heartbeat of the Earth, I Am The One, Vampyre Erotica, and my personal favorite, Heart of Lilith.