Ian Read

Ian Read is an English neofolk and traditional folk musician, and occultist active within chaos magic and Germanic mysticism circles. Read was a member of Sol Invictus, and founded Fire + Ice in 1991.

Early life Read left school at 16, and at the age of 17, he became an adherent of Germanic neopaganism and began studying Germanic paganism.

Music career In 1987, Read joined Tony Wakeford's Sol Invictus along with Karl Blake. Read recorded three albums and an EP with Sol Invictus before leaving to form the band Fire + Ice in 1991.

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.

His work as Fire + Ice have had a large amount of influence on neofolk music.

The band played Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig in 1999 with a lineup that included Ysanne Spevack and Julia Kent.

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.

Other pursuits In 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.

Discography With Current 93 He 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 He 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

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 Albums

EPs

Videos + Year Title Label 1992 Live At Hammersmith Chaos International 1995 Live At The Hollywood Moguls Fremdheit

Compilations