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
Dust
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All that I see
Drive me into this agony
Time blows the life far away
I follow this strange symphony
Dust nothing more then dust
Dust dust everything is fast
Dust dust everything is dust
Time ain't a devil to fight
Looking forwards
Drive me into this agony
Something is wrong in your... mind
Time takes you away
With this symphony... symphony
Dust nothing more then dust
Dust dust everything is fast
Dust so much is lost
Dust dust everything is dust
The lyrics of "Dust" by Theatres Des Vampires speaks about the passing of time, the fleeting nature of life, and the inevitability of death. The song seems to suggest that everything in life is transient, and ultimately everything will succumb to dust. The first few lines describe the shadows that are being cast as playing with the light, creating an illusion that only adds to the agony of recognizing the transience of life. The second verse speaks about how time is slowly taking everything away from us, leading to our ultimate demise. The chorus, which is repeated a few times throughout the song, reiterates the theme of dust and how everything in life is reduced to it.
The lyrics also touch upon the idea of a strange symphony, which could be a metaphor for the overall experience of life. Just like a symphony, life is a complex and multi-layered experience, with multiple instruments playing simultaneously. However, at the same time, all of those sounds come together to produce a harmonious melody, which can be interpreted as the overall experience of life. However, at the end of it all, it's all just dust.
Overall, "Dust" can be interpreted as a dark and introspective song that speaks to the human condition. It highlights the idea that everything in life is ultimately meaningless, and that we are all headed towards the same fate - dust.
Line by Line Meaning
Shadows are playing with the light
The presence of darkness and light coexisting and interacting with each other.
All that I see
The singer's limited perspective and understanding of their surroundings.
Drive me into this agony
The experience of extreme emotional pain and suffering.
Time blows the life far away
The unstoppable passage of time that separates the artist from their experiences and loved ones.
I follow this strange symphony
The artist's entrancement with the unusual and unsettling events of their life.
Dust nothing more then dust
Life is ultimately fleeting and temporary.
Dust dust everything is fast
The speed with which life moves, and how quickly things can change.
Dust so much is lost
The inevitability of experiencing loss and change throughout life.
Dust dust everything is dust
At the end of life, everything is reduced to nothing.
Time ain't a devil to fight
Despite how difficult time can be to cope with, it cannot be fought against or changed.
Looking forwards
The singer's attempts to move on from past experiences.
Something is wrong in your... mind
The suggestion of something being mentally unwell or troubling.
Time takes you away
The inescapable nature of time and its ability to distance people from each other and previous experiences.
With this symphony... symphony
The ongoing, chaotic nature of events in the singer's life.
Contributed by Anna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.