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Some say that, like the legendary vampire, Rome is eternal.
Certainly, she has corrupted seas of time with her distinctive
taint, rich and crimson like a fine Chianti. The rulers of
Ancient Rome who reigned over the known world - emperors like
Nero, Caligula, Commodus - are bywords for evil, extravagance,
and excess. The Renaissance popes - most notably those from
the infamous Borgia dynasty - held the sanctity of the souls
of all Christendom in their bejewelled hands while turning
poisoning into an art, religion into a business, and the Vatican
into a brothel. Such primordial evil casts long shadows over
modern Rome, and it is from these shadows that the Theatres
des Vampires emerged, children not just of the night, but
of
the Eternal City whose streets are paved with arcane blood.
Our prologue begins in 1993 when a duo known as VII Arcano,
vocalist Alexander and guitarist Robert - styling themselves
Lord Vampyr and Morgoth respectively - released a 7‰
single. Heavily influenced by the melancholy, doom-laden sound
of early Black Sabbath, it prefigured the atmospheric Gothic
Metal that would sweep the European scene a few years later,
but as
it was remained a cult oddity ahead of its time. The curtain
raised properly on the Theatres des Vampires in 1995 with
the release of the demo 'Nosferatu- eine symphonie des grauens'.
It incorporated an icy blast of the raw Black Metal, then
roaring down from Scandinavia, into their sound, though as
the
demo's title suggests (borrowed from the first ever silent
cinema adaptation of the Dracula legend) the heavy Gothic
overtones remained.
The following year the band's debut emerged, entitled 'Vampyrìsme,
nècrophilie, nècrosadisme, nècrophagie‚'
- a vampiric statement of intent: to fuck, torment, and consume
the dead. The line-up was then ever-evolving, Alexander striving
to find like-minded musicians who shared his dark vision,
and the ultimate cast for the Theatres des Vampires began
to form, particularly keyboardist Fabian (known as 'Necros')
who has proven a prolific writing partner, while reinforcing
the band's Gothic elements. In 1999, they secured a deal with
the UK's Blackend records for their 'Vampire
Chronicles', crucially giving the Theatres access to the arteries
of the international scene with their distinctive blend of
sinister sophistication and Satanic savagery. 'Bloody Lunatic
Asylum' followed in 2001 - their most shamelessly Gothic release
to that date, it made effective use of the lush female vocals
of Scarlet and Justine, as well as lyrics borrowed from the
19th century French decadent poets Baudelaire and Rimbaud.
Another unholy milestone was marked the same year with the
release of the 'Jubilaeum Anno Dracula 2001', commissioned
to commemorate the birth of the Transylvanian tyrant Vlad
the Impaler whose brutal life inspired the creation of Dracula.
Those who might accuse the Theatres des Vampires of
lacking a sense of humour were to be confounded on the 2002
'Suicide Vampire' album which was to feature a cover of pop
pixie Kylie Minogue‚s hit 'I Can't Get You Out of My
Head', suitably vampirised into 'I Can't Get You Out of My
Grave'. Sadly Ms Minogue's lawyers were more lacking in the
humour
department and withdrew permission at the last minute, and
the album had to be recalled and re-edited minus the mischievous
bonus track. (Some preview copies escaped this recall however,
and the track became an underground
favourite in a few select European Goth and Metal clubs.)
In tribute to the growing stature of the Theatres des Vampires
in the Gothic and Black Metal scenes, they toured with and
then collaborated with British Black Metal kings Cradle of
Filth and US Goth legends Christian Death. Both bands had
guest appearances on the Theatres'
2003 album 'Vampyrisme' which celebrated a decade of darkness
by reissuing their debut totally rerecorded.
The kindred between the bands stretches beyond music, as all
three have experienced attempted suppression from the Christian
authorities for their embrace of anti-religious philosophy
and Satanic imagery. Of this unholy trinity of bands, however,
the Theatres des Vampires have come under
greatest pressure, living almost literally in the shadow of
the Vatican. The conflict reached the pages of Italy's national
press when a bishop in the country's conservative southern
region demanded they cancel a concert, and when the band forcefully
declined, satisfied himself by exorcising the venue after
the performance.
Performance is key to the Theatres des Vampires experience
which pivots upon vocal interplay
between founder Alexander and their sultry female chanteuse
Scarlet - a classic sepulchral marriage of the seductive and
menacing, manifest in their powerfully atmospheric live presence.
Indeed it was Scarlet's tendency to appear on-stage in a nun's
robe, before literally
'kicking the habit' and getting rather intimate with a crucifix
that was most responsible for getting her clerical countrymen
hot under the dog-collar. The band makes no bones about their
live intent - to feed in true vampire fashion from their audiences.
In return Theatres des Vampires aim to transport their fans
to somewhere beyond the mortal world, a dreamscape where nightmare
and reality merge and dark desires and blasphemous myths seem,
for that short time, infinitely possible and uncannily real.
This is the region they have explored in their most recent
offering, 'Nightbreed of Macabria' (2004) - a musical travelogue
through a beautiful yet unspeakably grotesque realm of the
imagination, that owes
something to the cinematic vision of Gothic director par excellence
Tim Burton, achieved through the band's most ambitious use
of lavish symphonic orchestration to date.
The band's affinity for the lush sounds of a classical orchestra
owes something to their Latin blood, which pumps with Italy's
long passion for the overwrought melodrama of opera. Italy
also holds a special place in the hearts of horror connoisseurs,
home to the definitive cult chiller - cheaper, less polished,
perhaps less coherent than Hollywood product - but somehow
classier, less predictable, and far gorier than its big budget
equivalent. David Bracci is the effects man responsible for
creating much of that gore for Dario Argento, the unchallenged
maestro of spaghetti horror.
Bracci's also worked with Theatres des Vampires creating make-up
for the band, and plans to use material from 'Nightbreed of
Macabria' in his upcoming directorial debut 'Edge of Darkness'.
Such elements - the stylish splatter of Italian horror, the
symphonic excess of her opera, the blood-soaked allure of
her long history - combine to make Theatres des Vampires one
of the most elegantly dark, and eerily compelling metal bands
the world has to offer. Drink deep!
Gavin Baddely - Metal Hammer UK
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