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
Obsession
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I am devoured by this hungry void
Burning each thought I have
To keep me in chains spiders of glass graze
Over and over... An obssesion is owning me.
It turns me in a spiral of death
It's pulsing in me, I'm out of breath , I need to kill...
A nightmare drives me out... The way is so far
In this psycho-delirium, I start my war
It's time for violence
The day of doom, no time for tolerance...
It's the day of gloom, a devi-hate addiction
Stops the heart beat, a baneful obssesion
It just eats and eats... Inside me...
The lyrics of Theatres Des Vampires's song Obsession explore the intense grip of a dangerous obsession over the singer. The singer's mind is consumed by an insatiable hunger that burns every thought to keep them chained, like spiders of glass grazing over their mind. They are spiraling into a deadly obsession, unable to think or talk as the obsession devours them. There is something pulsing within them, driving them towards violence and a need to kill.
The singer describes entering a state of psycho-delirium, fueled by their obsession and the nightmare that drives them out. They are at war with themselves, unable to resist the addiction that has stopped their heart and consumed them entirely. The lyrics convey a sense of horror and desperation, with the singer aware that the obsession is baneful and destructive, but unable to resist its pull.
Overall, the lyrics to Obsession paint a harrowing picture of the dangers of obsession, and the ways in which it can consume and destroy a person entirely. It is a warning against giving into one's obsessions, and a reminder that sometimes the things we desire can be the most dangerous forces of all.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't think, I can't talk
My mind is completely consumed by a strong emotion that prevents me from focusing on anything else.
I am devoured by this hungry void
I am overwhelmed by a feeling of emptiness and desire that is all-consuming.
Burning each thought I have
My mind is racing with this intense feeling, leaving little room for any other thoughts or distractions.
To keep me in chains spiders of glass graze
The feeling is like being trapped, as if these spiders of glass are holding me prisoner.
Over and over... An obssesion is owning me.
The feeling is persistent and repetitive, like an obsession that has taken control of my thoughts and emotions.
It turns me in a spiral of death
This feeling is so overwhelming that it feels as if I am being pulled down into a dark, desperate place, like a spiral of death.
There's something I can't see
Despite feeling so consumed by this emotion, I can't quite put my finger on what it is that I am feeling or why.
It's pulsing in me, I'm out of breath , I need to kill...
I feel as though this emotion is pulsing through my entire body, making it difficult to breathe, and driving me to an intense level of aggression.
A nightmare drives me out... The way is so far
The intensity of this feeling is so extreme that it feels like I am being chased by a nightmare, and it seems impossible to escape it.
In this psycho-delirium, I start my war
The feeling has driven me to a state of madness, where I am willing to fight against anything that stands in my way.
It's time for violence
This feeling has now become so intense that violence seems like the only solution to relieve it.
The day of doom, no time for tolerance...
This is a critical moment, where patience and understanding will no longer suffice.
It's the day of gloom, a devi-hate addiction
This feeling has now transformed into a malicious, hateful addiction that is all-consuming.
Stops the heart beat, a baneful obssesion
This feeling is so intense that it feels like it is literally halting my heart, making it a dangerous and harmful obsession.
It just eats and eats... Inside me...
The feeling is insatiable, it just keeps growing and growing, devouring everything within me.
Contributed by Jasmine I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@emilyrosejohnson5426
i love all their songs from this album : moonlight waltz :D
@ranytaviolet4683
Very good song!!!
@demonslustable
love it sooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!
@dutchdagmar5072
I feel the pain, the hurt.
@draculalouqua
my fav from that album