The band's members expressed a fascination with vampires and anything connected to them, earning themselves and their music the title "vampiric metal" from their contemporaries. The band created a coherent image of vampirism in their stage performance and within the lyrical themes and atmospheres of their music, which contributed heavily to the gaining of their fan-base.
During their career, the band was first primarily influenced by symphonic black metal, but later tended to include differing influences, including: classicalmusic, opera, darkwave, deathrock, gothic rock and several electro-industrial sub-genres. Throughout this stylistic deviation, a few characteristics of the band's music have remained consistent; melancholic atmospheres and lyrics, vocal styles of akin to gothic metal, and their vampiric image.
The band has produced ten albums in ten years with the English label Plastic Head, and has gained more recognition within the metal scene in Europe, South America and Russia, partially due to the band's participation in various festivals around the world. These include: Vampyria III in London in 1999, Gods of Metal in Italy in 2000, Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig in 2003 and in 2006, Gotham in London in 2004, Female Voices Festival in Wieze, Belgium in 2006.
In 2003, the band toured with Christian Death throughout Europe, and recorded an album with Valor of Christian Death and Gian Pyres of Cradle of Filth as special guests.
The band's shows have always seen a reasonable level of attendance, and have become more dramatic over the band's career, incorporating fireworks and "out of line" appearances by Scarlet.
Since 2004, Sonya Scarlet has remained the solo vocalist and front of the band, replacing her previous role as backing vocals.
Scarlet sometimes cuts herself with razors at performances, freely letting fans drink her blood, promising them the gift of immortality. In 2005 several English clubs forbade her performing the display of bloodletting, because it violates English laws against the incitement to commit suicide.
On 28 November 2005, Aural Music released the album Pleasure and Pain. Distributors throughout Europe bought the album and it was published with permission in Europe, South America, the USA, Russia, and Japan.
On 19 March 2007, they released their album Desire of Damnation. Desire of Damnation is a double CD, with live songs from The Addiction tour 2006 and some new studio songs and remixes.
Guitarist Robert "Morgoth" left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Stephan Benfante.
On 2 May 2008, they released their 8th studio album Anima Noir. With this album their sound evolves once again, taking the route of electronic/industrial gothic metal while still retaining vampiric lyrics.
In November, 2008, Theatres des Vampires announced that they would go on a temporary hiatus due to both personal and health related issued of vocalist Sonya Scarlet.
On 14 January 2011 Aural Music released the album Moonlight Waltz, their ninth studio album. A music video for the song "Carmilla" was filmed on August 28 and 29, directed by David Bracci, who worked on most of Dario Argento's films in the past decade, and has also directed the "Lilith Mater Inferorum" music video.
The name "Théâtre des Vampires" was inspired by a fictional location created by Gothic fantasy writer Anne Rice of the same name. Rice's Théâtre des Vampires is a Parisian theater, in which vampires pretend to be mortal actors, their performances consisting of the feeding on mortals disguised as part of a play and staged in front of human audiences. The location is mentioned in several of Rice's books, including Interview With the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat.
Official site: http://www.theatres-des-vampires.net
Black Mirror
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Purple light that never stops
Flash by flash
It burns my mind
Lighting the shadows in my head
Behind me... A black mirror
I lose my soul
I lose my days
I lose my mind
I lose my life
Behind me... A black mirror
White walls around me
Lots of hands that scratch outside
Everyday the same... Again and again
A terrible noise that rise from there
I hear their call...
They could eat me
I scream without voice
Nobody is here in my life cell
Silence... It prepares us to die
Devi-hate obsession
It makes me blind
This life is steeling my sight
Behind me... A black mirror
Nothing to see nothing to take
Now I´m trapped in my life cell
Behind me... A black mirror
Caught in this endless trap
Something is burning inside me...
It´s killing me... It makes me feel alive
The lyrics to Theatres Des Vampires's song Black Mirror explore the idea of being trapped in a psychologically tormenting situation, represented by a "life cell" with white walls and scratching hands outside. The singer is losing their soul, days, mind, and ultimately their life, as they straddle the line between life and death, with only a black mirror to look to. The black mirror serves as a metaphor for the darkness of the situation that the singer is in, with the purple light representing the confusion and trauma they are experiencing. The flashes and noises in their head add to their mental turmoil as they experience a state of existence where they are not dead, but far from alive.
The lyrics also touch on the idea of obsession, specifically devil-hate obsession, that devours and blinds the singer. They know they are trapped and voiceless but are drawn to the life in front of them. They hear the call of something, perhaps death, and its pull is powerful. The repetition of "Behind me... A black mirror" emphasizes the feeling of claustrophobia and impending doom.
Overall, the song explores the pain and confusion that come with being trapped in a never-ending cycle of suffering. The lyrics create a haunting and eerie mental picture, with the singer trapped in a hopeless situation with no escape.
Line by Line Meaning
In my life cell a lonely place
The singer is confined in a space that feels isolated and abandoned.
Purple light that never stops
The constant illumination feels inescapable and oppressive.
Flash by flash
The singer is plagued by sudden, overwhelming sensations.
It burns my mind
The artist is tormented by internal anguish and turmoil.
Lighting the shadows in my head
The light exposes psychological darkness and inner demons.
Behind me... A black mirror
The singer is haunted by a dark reflection of themselves.
I lose my soul
The singer's identity and sense of self are slipping away.
I lose my days
Time passes without significance or meaning for the artist.
I lose my mind
The artist's mental state is deteriorating and unstable.
I lose my life
The artist's existence is being suffocated and extinguished.
White walls around me
The singer is surrounded by sterile, oppressive surroundings.
Lots of hands that scratch outside
There are forces outside of the artist's control trying to reach them.
Everyday the same... Again and again
The singer feels trapped in a monotonous and unchanging routine.
A terrible noise that rise from there
An overwhelming cacophony of sound comes from the outside.
I hear their call...
The singer feels pulled by an outside force, beckoning them to join.
They could eat me
The artist fears being consumed or destroyed by the unknown forces outside.
I scream without voice
The artist's despair is so profound that they cannot express it outwardly.
Nobody is here in my life cell
The singer feels alone and abandoned, with no hope of escape.
Silence... It prepares us to die
The singer is resigned to their fate, and the quiet is a prelude to death.
Devi-hate obsession
The artist is fixated on a destructive, all-consuming force.
It makes me blind
The artist is blinded to reason or rationality by their obsession.
This life is stealing my sight
The artist feels that their existence is crushing and erasing them.
Nothing to see nothing to take
The singer feels powerless and lacking in control or agency.
Now I´m trapped in my life cell
The artist is fully enveloped by their surroundings and circumstances.
Caught in this endless trap
The singer feels perpetually ensnared and unable to escape.
Something is burning inside me...
The singer feels a deep and intense inner turmoil.
It´s killing me... It makes me feel alive
The singer is simultaneously destroyed and invigorated by their internal struggles.
Contributed by Madelyn A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.