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
Twilight
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Legend of horror
The princess of evil made flesh is here
Born from the dark... King of Impalers
King of the twilight... Lord of the wolves
I live with the blood of virgins
I come back in the twilight kingdom...
I love the death... Prince of the twilight
Betrayer of christianity
Twilight kingdom
I was born in this ancient land
In search of pleasure
Ghosts... From the fog
In search of virgins
...For my life
The lyrics to Theatres Des Vampires's song Twilight are very dark and eerie. The song seems to be about a vampire king, who was born in Sighisoara, the land of vampires, and is referred to as the "King of Impalers" and the "Lord of the wolves". The vampire king appears to have an intense hatred for the sunlight and therefore, lives off the blood of virgins. The lyrics also suggest that the vampire king has betrayed the teachings of Christianity and is a prince of the "twilight kingdom", which seems to be the world of the vampire.
In addition to this, the lyrics also portray the vampire king's search for pleasure and virgins. The vampire appears to be surrounded by fog and ghosts, giving the impression of an eerie and supernatural atmosphere. Overall, the song appears to be a story about a powerful vampire king who belongs to the world of the undead and thrives on the blood of virgins, in a world surrounded by the supernatural.
Line by Line Meaning
Sighisoara... Land of vampires
The town of Sighisoara is known for its vampire legends and folklore
Legend of horror
The tales of vampires and their dark deeds are terrifying
The princess of evil made flesh is here
A female vampire, known for her wickedness, has come into existence
Born from the dark... King of Impalers
The vampire was created from the darkness and is known as the ruler of those who impale their victims
King of the twilight... Lord of the wolves
The vampire is the leader of creatures who dwell in the dusk and is also in control of the pack of wolves
I live with the blood of virgins
The vampire survives on the life force of young, pure maidens
I hate the light of the sun
The vampire is repulsed by sunlight and must only be active during the night
I come back in the twilight kingdom...
The vampire returns during the twilight hours to rule over its domain
I love the death... Prince of the twilight
The vampire enjoys the act of killing and is seen as royalty at the time of day when the sun sets
Betrayer of christianity
The vampire is seen as a symbol of evil that opposes the beliefs of Christianity
Twilight kingdom
The world that the vampire inhabits is one of darkness and is ruled by the prince of the night
I was born in this ancient land
The vampire has existed in this area for a long time and is connected to its history
In search of pleasure
The vampire seeks out activities that bring enjoyment and satisfaction
Ghosts... From the fog
Spirits and apparitions can be seen in the misty atmosphere
In search of virgins
The vampire hunts for young, chaste women to feed on in order to sustain itself
...For my life
The vampire requires virgin blood to live and survive in its undead state
Contributed by Cole C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@user-jn3rd4cr4e
I was born in this ancient land
In search of pleasure
Ghosts... From the fog
In search of virgins
...For my life