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
Thule
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
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"By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named night,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached this lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule,
Out of SPACE, out of TIME.
By the dismal tarns and pools
Where dwell the Vampires,
By each spot the most unholy,
In each nook the most melancholy;
There the traveller meets aghast
Sheeted memories of the past,
Shrouded forms that start and sigh
As they pass the wanderer by.
By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named night,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have wandered home but newly
From this ultimate dim Thule."
"For the dead travel fast."
The lyrics of Theatres Des Vampires's song "Thule" draws inspiration from the literary works of Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker, particularly from the former's "Dreamland" and the latter's "Dracula". The singer describes his journey to a strange and eerie place called Thule, which is beyond the realms of time and space. The journey is via a route that is obscure and lonely and haunted by ill angels. The place is ruled by an Eidolon named Night, who sits on a black thrown in a solemn and upright manner.
As the singer traverses the place, he encounters dismal tarns and pools where vampires dwell. Each spot is unholy and each nook is melancholy. The place is haunted by sheeted memories of the past and shrouded forms that start and sigh as the wanderer passes by. In the end, the singer wanders home from Thule, invoking the famous last words from Dracula, "For the dead travel fast."
The lyrics of "Thule" are a vivid representation of the Gothic horror genre, drawing from the literary works of these famous authors. The eerie and surreal imagery in the lyrics creates a sense of foreboding, adding to the overall mood of the song. It is a reminder that there is an unknown and mystical world beyond our reach and that the dark forces of the night can haunt our every step.
Line by Line Meaning
By a route obscure and lonely,
Through a path that is hard to find and desolate,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Accompanied only by malevolent spirits,
Where an Eidolon, named night,
Where a ghost-like, night-like presence,
On a black throne reigns upright,
Rules from a dark, terrifying throne,
I have reached this lands but newly
I have just arrived in this place,
From an ultimate dim Thule,
From a distant, mysterious place called Thule,
From a wild weired clime that lieth,sublime,
From an eerie and surreal land,
Out of SPACE, out of TIME.
Beyond the limits of space and time.
By the dismal tarns and pools
By the gloomy lakes and ponds,
Where dwell the Vampires,
Where the Vampires live,
By each spot the most unholy,
At the most unholy places,
In each nook the most melancholy;
In the most somber corners;
There the traveller meets aghast
The traveler there encounters with fear
Sheeted memories of the past,
Ghosts of the past covered in sheets,
Shrouded forms that start and sigh
Veiled figures that suddenly appear and exhale,
As they pass the wanderer by.
As they move past the traveler on their journey.
By a route obscure and lonely,
Through a path that is hard to find and desolate,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Accompanied only by malevolent spirits,
Where an Eidolon, named night,
Where a ghost-like, night-like presence,
On a black throne reigns upright,
Rules from a dark, terrifying throne,
I have wandered home but newly
I have just returned to my home,
From this ultimate dim Thule.
From that distant, mysterious place called Thule.
For the dead travel fast.
Because death comes quickly and unexpectedly.
Contributed by Declan C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.