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
Preludium
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"Of the primeval priest's assum'd power,
When eternals spurn'd back his religion,
And gave him a place in the north,
Obscure, shadowy, void, solitary.
Eternals!I hear your call gladly,
To unfold your dark vision of torment."
Impia tortorum longos his turba furores sanguinis innocui non satiata, aluit.Sospite nuin
patria, fracto nuin funeris antro,mors ubi dira fuit vita salusque tenent.
The lyrics of Theatres Des Vampires's song Preludium seem to be drawing upon William Blake's "Preludium" poem. The first stanza speaks of the "primeval priest's assum'd power" and his religion being spurned by the eternals who gave him a place in the north that is "obscure, shadowy, void, solitary." This could be interpreted as a metaphor for the rejection of traditional religion in favor of spirituality.
The second stanza speaks directly to the eternals, who are asked to "unfold your dark vision of torment." This could be seen as a plea for enlightenment or insight into the nature of suffering and pain. The final line, "Impia tortorum longos his turba furores sanguinis innocui non satiata, aluit.Sospite nuin patria, fracto nuin funeris antro,mors ubi dira fuit vita salusque tenent," seems to depict a violent scene of bloodshed and death, with life and salvation being held in balance.
Overall, the lyrics of Preludium seem to be exploring themes of religion, spirituality, suffering, and death through the lens of William Blake's poetry.
Line by Line Meaning
Of the primeval priest's assum'd power,
This refers to the early religious leaders who wielded great influence and authority among their people.
When eternals spurn'd back his religion,
The 'eternals' - possibly supernatural beings - rejected the priest's beliefs and practices, undermining his authority.
And gave him a place in the north,
The priest was exiled from his community and forced to live in a remote, desolate place in the northern regions.
Obscure, shadowy, void, solitary.
This describes the priest's new home as a dark, lonely place with little life or activity.
Eternals!I hear your call gladly,
The priest is addressing the mysterious 'eternals', acknowledging their summons and expressing his willingness to listen to their message.
Dictate swift winged words, and fear not
The priest implores the eternals to speak clearly and quickly, and not to hold back any potentially alarming or unsettling information.
To unfold your dark vision of torment.
The priest is asking the eternals to reveal their harsh and painful vision of the world and its future.
Contributed by Nathaniel T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.