Ian Read is an English neofolk and traditional folk musician, and occultist active within chaos magic and Germanic mysticism circles.
Ian Read | |
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| Background information | |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, occultist |
Read was a member of Sol Invictus, and founded Fire + Ice in 1991.
Early life
editRead left school at 16, and at the age of 17, he became an adherent of Germanic neopaganism and began studying Germanic paganism.[1]
Music career
editIn 1987, Read joined Tony Wakeford's Sol Invictus along with Karl Blake.[2] Read recorded three albums and an EP with Sol Invictus before leaving to form the band Fire + Ice in 1991.[3]
Ian Read founded an all traditional folk band named Figg's Academy that played a couple of gigs, notably in 2008 at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig.[4][verification needed]
Fire + Ice
editRead founded Fire + Ice in 1991 after several years as a member of Sol Invictus. According to their sole website, "The heartlessness of the modern commercial consumer society ruins the lives of many. FIRE + ICE takes the purity and philosophy of early music and melds it into a message redolent with powerful seeds of honour, truth, loyalty and the bond of true friendship."[4]
His work as Fire + Ice have had a large amount of influence on neofolk music.[5]
The band played Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig in 1999 with a lineup that included Ysanne Spevack and Julia Kent.[6]
The band followed up by releasing a split 7-inch single with the neofolk song The Unquiet Grave recorded in London in 2000, featuring vocals and viola by Ysanne Spevack as a duet with Ian Read. It was released in Germany by Tesco Distribution on blue vinyl with a letterpress foil gatefold cover.[7]
Other pursuits
editIn 1996, Read was named as a Rune-Master within the Rune-Gild. His master work was the Fire + Ice album Rûna that included a self-written and sung galdor (or galdr) of the Rune poem.[2] Read presently holds the position of Drighten in the Rune Gild and co-published the periodical Rûna, which ceased after 24 issues.[citation needed]
Read became the leader of the English branch of the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT), in the early 1990s after founder Peter Carroll stepped down as leading Magus. Read is currently the editor of the IOT's Chaos International.[8]
Discography
editWith Current 93
editHe participated to the sessions of Current 93's album Swastikas For Noddy, therefore he appears on this album and some subsequent albums containing remixes of this material:
- Swastikas For Noddy, 1987
- Looney Runes, 1988
- Earth Covers Earth, 1988
- Crooked Crosses For The Nodding God, 1989
- Swastikas For Goddy, 1993
With Death In June
editHe participated to Death in June's album Brown Book and the tracks have appeared in subsequent Death In June's releases as well:
- Brown Book, 1987
- The Cathedral Of Tears , 1991
- Braun Buch Zwei, 2009
With Sol Invictus
edit- Lex Talionis, 1990
- Sol Veritas Lux, 1990, compilation of the tracks from the EPs Against the Modern World (1988) and In The Jaws Of The Serpent (1988)
- Trees In Winter, 1990
With Fire + Ice
editAlbums
edit| Year | Title | Format, Special Notes | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Gilded By The Sun | CD | New European Recordings |
| 1994 | Hollow Ways | CD | Fremdheit |
| 1994 | California Daze | Live CD with Charlie MacGowan | Discordia |
| 1995 | Midwinter Fires | CD | Fremdheit |
| 1996 | Rûna | CD | Fremdheit |
| 1998 | Seasons Of Ice | CD, compilation of rarities and unreleased tracks | Fremdheit |
| 2000 | Birdking | CD | Fremdheit |
| 2012 | Fractured Man | CD and Vinyl | Fremdheit |
| 2018 | Wanderer | 10-inch Vinyl | Autre Que |
EPs
edit| Year | Title | Format, Special Notes | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Blood On The Snow | CD Single | Fremdheit |
| 1996 | Reyn Again | 7-inch | Fremdheit |
| 2000 | We Said Destroy | Split 7-inch with Death In June | Fremdheit |
Videos
edit| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Live At Hammersmith | Chaos International |
| 1995 | Live At The Hollywood Moguls | Fremdheit |
Compilations
edit| Year | Tracks | Title | Format, Special Notes | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Seeker's Prayer, Purity | The Pact: Flying In The Face... | CD | Fremdheit |
| 1998 | Noxialicht | The Nitha Fields | CD | Ultra! |
| 2000 | Harry the sun | The Pact: ...Of The Gods | CD | Fremdheit |
| 2004 | Michael | Tyr II | CD included with magazine. | Ultra! |
| 2005 | Dragons in the sunset | Looking For Europe | 4×CD set. | Auerbach Tonträger |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Do Vale, Miguel. "An interview with Ian Read". Heimdallr. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ a b Parsons, Gary (2 June 1997). "Interview with Ian Read of Fire + Ice". Quiette magazine. Archived from the original on 19 October 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via Flux Europa.
- ^ Webb, Peter (13 December 2007). Exploring the Networked Worlds of Popular Music: Milieux Cultures. Psychology Press. pp. 92–. ISBN 978-0-415-95658-1. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Fire + Ice home page". Archived from the original on 11 June 2008.
- ^ "Live at the Hollywood Moguls (review)". Heathen Harvest. Archived from the original on 3 March 2006.
- ^ "~ Official Website Wave-Gotik-Treffen Leipzig ~". www.wave-gotik-treffen.de.
- ^ "Death In June / Fire + Ice - We Said Destroy". Discogs. 2000.
- ^ "An interview with Ian Read". Neo-Form Magazine. 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
External links
edit- Detailed Ian Read discography at discogs.com
- Ian Read authored Rûna magazine issues 14 to 21. "Ian Read". Rûna-Raven Press, USA. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007.