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
Cursed
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
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When the darkness falls you see a new world
The winter's embrace's lost in the forest...
Hidden in the dark
The witches and their spells
The trees seem alive
Tears of your mother
Cry 'cause you are dead
Entombed in a dismal coffin
"From the grave, I rise to search for the virtue, that I miss,of love
My lost groom to embrace and suck the blood of his heart."
"Gagne la mort avec tous tes appétits, et ton égoïsme et tous les péchés capitaux."
When the darkness fall you come back to life
With your pointed teeth and your red eyes
The lyrics of Theatres des Vampires' song, "Cursed," depict an eerie and haunting narrative of a world beyond our own. The song opens with the line, "When the darkness falls you see a new world," which suggests that the darkness itself is a portal to the unknown. The following two lines describe a forest shrouded in winter's embrace and lost to the world, setting the stage for the rest of the song's story. The lyrics then take a haunting turn, describing a deep secret hidden in the dark – the witches and their spells. The following line, "The trees seem alive," creates a sense of foreboding and hint at the presence of ancient, supernatural forces that linger in the forest.
The song's lyrics then take an even darker turn, describing the tears of someone's mother crying because they are dead, entombed in a dismal coffin. This scene sets the stage for the refrain, "From the grave, I rise to search for the virtue, that I miss, of love," which speaks to a desire for something beyond the confines of the grave. The lyrics then take on a more sinister tone, mentioning a groom who has been lost and whose blood the singer wishes to drink, before transitioning into a quote from Arthur Rimbaud's "Une saison en Enfer." The meaning of the quote is that one should embrace death along with all its vices, a fitting sentiment for a song about vampires. The chorus returns, describing the rebirth that occurs when the darkness falls, with pointed teeth and red eyes signalling a new life.
Overall, Theatres des Vampires' "Cursed" is a macabre and haunting song with vivid and clearly-drawn images. The use of quotes from Rimbaud and a literary style to the lyrics add a touch of poetic depth, making it a song that is both eerie and thought-provoking.
Line by Line Meaning
When the darkness falls you see a new world
As night falls, a new perspective on the world is revealed.
The winter's embrace's lost in the forest...
The oppressive cold and darkness of winter is obscured by the presence of the forest.
Silent deep secret
A deeply held secret kept hidden in silence.
Hidden in the dark
The secret remains hidden in the shadows and obscured by the night.
The witches and their spells
A coven of witches and their magical incantations.
The trees seem alive
The natural world around us appears to come alive in the dark of night.
Tears of your mother
The sorrow of a mother mourning the loss of her child.
Cry 'cause you are dead
The desolation and grief of being dead and forgotten.
Entombed in a dismal coffin
The final resting place of the dead, a bleak and foreboding coffin.
"From the grave, I rise to search for the virtue, that I miss,of love
My lost groom to embrace and suck the blood of his heart."
A vampire rises from the grave, seeking the love they once knew and devouring the heart of their lost groom.
"Gagne la mort avec tous tes appétits, et ton égoïsme et tous les péchés capitaux."
"Win death with all your appetites and selfishness and capital sins."
When the darkness fall you come back to life
With your pointed teeth and your red eyes
As night falls, the undead rise to life with their trademark pointed teeth and crimson eyes.
Contributed by Kaylee E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.