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
Reason and Sense
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Matter and spirit
Reason and sense...
...To you
My daring verses are unleashed
You I invoke oh Satan
Monark of the feast..."
No pleasure for the lust
No martyrs for the Crhist
Just hate and pain and dust
Gold dust in a cursed land
A black feather dances so fast
An angel is falling down
The true reason no one knows
Reason and sense
"I die everyday and everynight I rise
Searching the hideout for my pale light
The sky cries its shiny lies
The truth is my pain
The doom is my life"
God's kiss on his spirit lays
The rocks of hell his grave
No time for choice no time
From flesh to dust his way
Flame's crown the crown of Christ
God kills his son his priest
No prayer for the deads tonight
A tempest meshes clouds of rain
A clown dances with his mask of pain
A crow screams on a nameless fate
"I die everyday and everynight I rise
Searching the hideout for my pale light
The sky cries its shiny lies
The truth is my pain
The doom is my life"
The lyrics of Theatres Des Vampires's song "Reason and Sense" explore themes of religion, pain, and the struggle to find meaning in an unpredictable world. The first stanza addresses the concept of creation and sets the stage for the rest of the song. The singer invokes Satan, whom they see as the "monark of the feast," suggesting that they view him as a powerful figure and potential savior.
The second stanza presents a bleak picture of a godless world, where there is "no pleasure for the lust" and "no martyrs for the Christ." The use of the phrase "hate and pain and dust" conjures an image of emptiness and despair.
The third stanza shifts to a different perspective, as the singer describes themselves dying every day and night but continuing to rise. They search for their "pale light" but are met with lies from the heavens. This suggests a struggle to find meaning and purpose in life, despite feeling consistently defeated.
Overall, the lyrics of "Reason and Sense" offer a meditation on the human condition, questioning the role of religion, pain, and suffering in our lives. The invocation of Satan serves as a subversion of traditional religious narratives, positioning him as a potentially powerful and positive figure in a world devoid of hope.
Line by Line Meaning
To you, creation's mighty principle
I am addressing the almighty Satan, whom I believe to be the ruler of all creation.
Matter and spirit
I acknowledge both the physical and spiritual worlds.
Reason and sense...
I recognize both logic and intuition as valid forms of thought.
...To you
I am dedicating this poem to Satan.
My daring verses are unleashed
I am fearless in my expression of my beliefs and feelings.
You I invoke oh Satan
I am actively summoning Satan to be present with me as I write this poem.
Monark of the feast...
I am referencing Satan's role as the ruler of darkness and the underworld.
No human breath below (him)
Anyone who serves Satan is dead inside.
No pleasure for the lust
There is no true gratification in sin.
No martyrs for the Christ
Christians do not suffer in the name of their faith the way Satanists do.
Just hate and pain and dust
Satanism is all about negativity, suffering, and eventual death.
Gold dust in a cursed land
Even something precious and valuable like gold is worthless in a place of darkness and evil.
A black feather dances so fast
Symbolizing chaos and upheaval, something is coming to disrupt the status quo.
An angel is falling down
This is a sign of Satan winning and causing destruction.
The true reason no one knows
The cause of the current situation is unclear and may remain a mystery.
I die everyday and everynight I rise
The artist feels constant pain and despair, but is able to keep going and never truly give up.
Searching the hideout for my pale light
The artist is looking for something to cling to that might bring a little bit of light into their dark existence.
The sky cries its shiny lies
Even though the heavens appear bright and optimistic, this is a false facade and reality is still bleak.
The truth is my pain
For the singer, there is no escaping the harsh truth of their existence, and it is a constant source of torment.
The doom is my life
The artist feels that their fate is sealed, and they will forever live in darkness and sadness.
God's kiss on his spirit lays
This is a reference to the artist feeling that God has forsaken them, leaving them alone and lost.
The rocks of hell his grave
The artist feels trapped in a world of misery and pain, with no hope of escape.
No time for choice no time
The singer feels that they are powerless and that their life is predestined.
From flesh to dust his way
The artist believes that life is short and ultimately leads to death.
Flame's crown the crown of Christ
This is a reference to the idea that Christ's suffering and death make him worthy of wearing a crown of flames.
God kills his son his priest
This is a criticism of Christianity, which is seen as being hypocritical and cruel.
No prayer for the deads tonight
Not even the dead can escape the darkness and hopelessness of the singer's world.
A tempest meshes clouds of rain
This is a symbol of the artist's inner turmoil and the chaos that surrounds them.
A clown dances with his mask of pain
The artist sees life as being a cruel joke, with even those who are supposed to bring joy (like a clown) hiding behind a mask of suffering.
A crow screams on a nameless fate
Crows are often seen as symbols of death, and this line suggests that death may be inevitable for all.
Contributed by Lila V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.