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
Vampyrica
Theatres Des Vampires Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This night...I hear your voice!!
When you walk my dark path, love like a bloodbath
Other vision...other eyes a vampiric sado-enchantment
VAMPYRICA
Your pain...you don't want this
When you walk my dark path, love without heart
Other life, other power, a vampiric transmutation
When you walk my bloodpath, love like a bloodbath
When you walk my dark path, love without heart
VAMPYRICA
The lyrics to Theatres Des Vampires’s song “Vampyrica” explore the dark and obsessive desires of a vampire as they long for their prey. The first verse describes the intense connection between the vampire and their victim, as they feel their breath and hear their voice. The second part of the verse paints a picture of violence and bloodshed, with the vampire describing love like a “bloodbath” and the victim under their “vampiric sado-enchantment.”
The second verse delves deeper into the victim’s desires, as the vampire promises them a new life and a new power. However, the language used suggests that the vampiric transformation will come at a cost, with the victim experiencing pain and losing their heart. The final line of the verse is a warning - when you walk the vampire’s bloodpath, love becomes a violent and deadly act, devoid of any kind of emotion or feeling.
Overall, the lyrics to “Vampyrica” are a haunting and seductive depiction of the allure of the vampire, drawing the listener into their dark and dangerous world.
Line by Line Meaning
This night...I feel your breath
Tonight, I have a sense of your presence and feel your physical breath in close proximity
This night...I hear your voice!!
Tonight, I am able to perceive your voice verbally communicating with me
When you walk my dark path, love like a bloodbath
The subject of the song is seeking intense, violent passion from their romantic partner when they join them in the darkness they occupy
Other vision...other eyes a vampiric sado-enchantment
Transfixed by the irresistible nature of vampiric, sadomasochistic behavior, the subject is unable to turn away from their fixation, leading to newfound experiences and desires
Your pain...you don't want this
The subject recognizes their partner's pain and understands that they do not wish to endure it
You want...you want another life
The subject understands that their partner seeks an escape or change from their current existence
When you walk my dark path, love without heart
The subject recognizes that their partner may not have the capacity for true emotional attachment when partaking in their shared experiences in darkness
Other life, other power, a vampiric transmutation
The subject experiences transformation to a vampiric nature through their immersion in a new way of life and the newfound strength it brings
When you walk my bloodpath, love like a bloodbath
The subject once again expresses their desire for their partner to join them in their violent, bloodthirsty passion
When you walk my dark path, love without heart
The subject reiterates the potential lack of emotional bond their partner may experience when partaking in their shared experiences in darkness
Contributed by Sebastian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.