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I may well be a fledgling initiate to the Theatres Des Vampires coven but was really impressed from the second I pressed play on their new album Suicide Vampire. Here is an interview conducted with Fabian “Necros” who provides the flowing keyboard dynamics and horror samples.



Firstly congratulations on the album, it will definitely be one that I will be revisiting time and time again. Tell us a bit about the recording process. How long did the album take to complete and how did you pass the time when you weren’t personally involved?

Thank you, I’m happy you liked it. Our album took a year of work and practice to compose.

We recorded it in 20 days at the Alpha Music Studio, here in Rome. Then the album was sent to England to Paul Beavis studio and to our manager Tim Fraser for post-production. I consider England the best place for post- production work. I’m generally involved in all the processes of the album, for me it is important to have a general idea of the product.



It is certainly an ambitious project, complete with violins and a choir of horrors. How easy was it to coordinate and get all the arrangements organised?

Not easy at all. We spent a long time to find the right mix and the right arrangements. These kinds of choirs are not easy to compose because they are polyphonic, so you have to work on several vocal lines to find a good result.

Also for the string section it is important to find the right mix, and work on song feeling and atmosphere. The violin is an incredible instrument, but it is not easy to put it in a metal sounding song. There’s a huge work of arrangement behind each song to find the right “mood”.



I certainly have to get your back catalogue but how would you say that the album progresses from your previous releases?

Well… I’d like to tell you a little bit of the story of Theatres des Vampires:

Count Robert “Morgoth” and Alexander “Lord Vampyr” started to play music together in 1989 with a band called “Sepolcrum”. This was one of the first Vampiric Metal bands in history and probably all people that are deeply into music collection know well the names ("Anteroom Of The Hell" (1991) and "Flowers Upon The Grave" (1993). In 1992 they founded a band called VII Arcano. Its sound was always near to the modern concept of Gothic Metal, full of ghostly and Vampiric atmosphere. They produced a 7” vinyl in 1993 (GATHER MY BLOOD FOREVER), and they worked together on the foundation of Theatres des Vampires in 1994. Count Morgoth played in the first demo of TdV in 1994 (Nosferatu eine sinphonie des grauens), and he is also present in the first Cd of 1996 “Vampyrìsme, nècrophilie, nècrosadisme, nècrophagie”. In 1996 the two split: Robert Morgoth carried on playing with VII Arcano and Lord Vampyr dedicated himself 100% to TdV... But in 2001 with a surprise to everybody, Morgoth left his band VII Arcano and came back to Theatres des Vampires.

Since 1997 I (Fabian “Necros”) am the main composer of the band. And since 1997 Theatres des Vampires are the “new” band that recorded its “first” album “The Vampire Chronicle”. So this is our history…

As you can see it’s several years that we have been working on the vampire-death-immortality concept …

Working for all these years in music ambient, it is normal that something changes year by year. Our very old works under moniker Sepolcrum, were darker, sad… when we changed in VII Arcano we explored the doom side of Gothic Metal… we found the right mix… of Black and Gothic, creating an “Extreme gothic Metal” style.

Nowadays we concentrate more on polyphonic choirs and orchestral parts, here it is TDV!





La Dans Macabre Du Vampire is definitely a catchy highlight. What made you decide to include an alternative version of this in German?

The German market is one of the best markets for our band (yes, also the English one!!) So this bonus track is a little homage for our German fans.

The keyboard structures remind me a lot of other Italian composers. I swear I can hear touches of Giorgio Moroder at times and Goblin at others. Where do you take your inspiration from and would you agree that Italy leads the way with eccentric keyboard playing?

I think that excellent composers exist in Italy… Moroder, Goblin, Ennio Morricone just to name a few… I think that some kind of melodies and orchestral parts are linked with our culture. But my inspirations aren’t strictly linked with music… I take inspiration from my life and experiences, from books and many forms of art… sometimes from classical music.





There was meant to be a cover of Kylie Minogue’s Cant Get You Out Of My Head on the album (Cant Get You Out Of My Grave). It obviously shows that you have a sense of humour. I take it our Aussie pop princess did not. What stopped this happening?

To be honest with you I don’t think it is a problem linked with Kylie Minogue, because she isn’t the author of this song. For us it was just like a funny joke, to show everybody that a pop song could be changed into something completely different. Everybody at the label was sure that EMI wouldn’t have a problem at all … but maybe EMI was not so keen to listen to a Heavy Metal band playing this song. A letter arrived to our manager completely denying use of this song in any form, so we were forced to delete it from the track list of the album. Probably major Head Quarters lack of sense of humour.



Onto the obvious Vampiric imagery. For a start how does this go down in a staunchly Catholic country like Italy? Do you find your appearance causing controversy in your home country?

What you say is unfortunately true. Italy is a “pain in the ass” from this point of view. Sometimes it seems the Italian government is easily “forced” by the Vatican to do some laws in its favour. For this reason generally we prefer to play in clubs in Italy where you are “invited” or you are out…During a show at Vampyria Gothic Cafè in Reggio Emilia, some “catholic integralist” menaced the club’s owner saying that “they will force him to close” if he let our band play… Shit people! But we really really don’t care.



I find that you create a very profound statement in both your music and appearance. The vampire should be projected as a misanthropic creature. Yet you also craft a very romantic viewpoint to go with it. Certainly you cast a shadow to the literary genius of Bram Stoker and films such as Nosferatu but update it with the barbarity of the modern age. Tell us a bit about the concept of the band and what Vampirism means to you?

Well you describe perfectly what is inside our concept and lyrics… Yes, we try to explore all the aspects of the vampiric image from the romantic one to the modern more “barbaric”.

For me the vampire is a symbol, something that sets you free… that opens your eyes… that takes you out from the state of “humanity”… For me humanity is what people are “forced” to do in their common lives (go to bank, go to work, pay taxes and so on). The common style of life is something that “alienates” people… “Vampiric escape” could be a solution to this nightmare…



The idea behind the Suicide Vampire is very poetic. Like I said, it conjures images of despondency and a nihilistic approach to longevity. Alternatively it suggests a desperate attempt by someone recently changed into a vampire to end it all. Certainly the immortal suicide is portrayed as the ultimate sacrifice in literature and cinema. Is this what you are replicating?

Yes, from some points of view this is the concept of this song. Anyway, in our music there is a process of transmutation, and now we are near to the next step of this transmutation. I think that there is a strong link between music and the state of mind…In future we would like to explore the human race. Now we are talking about stories of death … stories of graves… flowers upon the graves and tears of blood…It‘s more gothic and doleful.…



I personally think Italian horror cinema is the best in the world. The likes of Bava, Argento and Fulci, prove this. As far as films that really immortalise the vampire are concerned I would have to say that French director Jean Rollin leads the way. Which films would you say portray the vampire best?

Well, as you can understand I’m totally in love with Italian Horror and Gothic cinema directors.

I can suggest some Italian gothic movies of the ’60-‘70’: “La casa dalle finestre che ridono” (House With The Windows That Laugh, in case you were wondering) and “Zeder” (from which Stephen King Pet Cemetery took inspiration) by Pupi Avati or “La maschera del demonio” (Black Sunday) and “Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga” (Baron Blood) by Mario Bava. Anyway I also love old horror film as Nosferatu (Eine Symphonie des Grauens) or Vampyr.



What about the new wave of vampire films? It seems that the likes of Ann Rice have made the whole genre popular again. To me Razor Blade Smile is the best vampire film I have seen in years. The likes of Blade and John Carpenters Vampires are good but seem to be lacking the spirit of the classics. What do you think?

Unfortunately Razor Blade is not distributed here in Italy (it’s the one with Eileen Daly isn’t it?)… (It certainly is).

I really don’t like Blade and Vampires… but I totally loved “Interview with the vampire”.. It seems that nowadays all films lack spirit...



You have just embarked on a video yourself for Lilith Mater Inferorum. The stills I have seen certainly look as though you have recreated a classical vampiric portrayal. You also worked with David Bracci (Dario Argento’s effects maker). How did the shoot go? It looks like you had fun doing it.

David is one of the effects makers for Dario Argento and with his crew we shot and directed our video for “Lilith Mater Inferorum”. David tried to recreate atmospheres similar to Nosferatu of 1922. We shot in an amazing place here in Italy, in an ancient church and in a castle of 1300. Every time we work with David we have a lot of fun because he is crazy, really mad. I think that you will be surprised from the final quality of this video.



I believe you had a few things happen that could only be described as supernatural during the course of the shoot?

Oh yes, that’s totally true…During the shooting of our video lights turned off for a while and a cold wind blew all around for few seconds… a few second before this, we shot some photos with a digital camera. Then the digital camera stopped working… after a few days we downloaded the images and strange pictures

appeared…something like 3 ghostly faces… (I think that you have this image… use it if you want to show to readers of your web magazine).



I missed you at your recent London gig and am kicking myself for it. What could a mere mortal who has never caught Theatres Des Vampires live expect with your stage show?

Years ago, Theatres des Vampires were more theatrical… with a lot of make up and horrific show.

Nowadays we are changed; we use more pyrotechnics in concerts, with flames and explosions (when we play in a club that we are allowed to use these kind of effects). Anyway we prefer a more “metal” and “music” show at the moment… but we are always Theatres des Vampires! We are legendary for the quantity of blood that we bring on stage! So are you ready for a bloodbath?



Any plans to come back here in the near future? I see you are playing Italy in December.

Our label is now Plastic Head, an English label. We have very good fans in your country, so for sure we will come back in England soon. In March we will tour in Europe for of 20 days…maybe after this tour.



What is the scene like in Italy and are there any other bands that we should be looking out for?

In Italy there are several very good bands, Lacuna Coil, Rhapsody, Novembre, Cadaveria… just to name a few…

There are also hundreds of very “underground” bands but the Italian metal market is terrible and it doesn’t give bands the possibilities to get out from the underground.

All the bands (including us) that are quite known in Europe haven’t an Italian Label… but a European based label… it is the only way for an Italian band to come out from the underground…



Well that about wraps things up. Any further things you would like to add for our readers?

Carpe Noctem my dears…

Gothic metal is a genre of Heavy Metal Musicthat originated in the early 1990's in Europe as an outgrowth of doom-death, a subgenre of Doom Metal. The definition of gothic metal is commonly debated; older fans and musicians have a firm concept of the genre having been around through its growth and evolution, having strict ideas of what bands pertain to the genre and what bands don't. Newer fans reject this categorization as limiting, useless or wrong, often claiming bands are gothic metal that do not meet the criteria of the older fans

Sounds, constructs and lyrics

Gothic metal is sometimes considered a loose genre in the way it sounds because the genre is defined by its composition of the music and its aesthetics, leaving individual bands to provide different interpretations. It also makes unique use of dual vocalists, keyboards and acoustic guitars, making it distinctive in comparison to other metal genres.

Gothic metal tends to refer to domm metal, black metal and death metals lfor its composition, heavily synthesizing the styles of their melody and rhythm ideas in its guitar work, causing the music to be aggressive and fast paced. Acoustic guitars are sometimes present in gothic metal, and in bands that use two guitars, the second guitarist is often found playing a form of acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar is used in the same way as its electronic counterpart, and is normally found playing melodies that are as equally complex. The bass guitar in gothic metal usually plays lower tones akin to doom metal combined with the aggression of black and death metal, often being the main contributor to the atmosphere in songs.

Keyboards play a major role in gothic metal, often replacing the second guitarist in bands and taking on the role of either lead or rhythm. The keyboards are often used to imitate a variety of instruments, most often string and wind instruments. Keyboards tend to support the bass in setting the atmosphere and mood of songs.

The atmosphere is commonly tailored to fit the song; warm and energetic, empty and enclosing. The atmosphere rarely follows the deep morbidity of doom metal unlike its origin/offspring, doom-death/gothic-doom, or the upbeat nature of its sister genre, simphonic metal.

Lyrically, gothic metal is centered around romances and fantasy tales that end in tragedy for one or more parties involved. The setting for the lyrics are most often in the New Age or the Dark Ages but can also be in victorian, Edwardian Roman or modern eras. The romantic- and fantasy-themed lyrics often used in gothic metal cover many broad subjects and are intended as being themes and guides to the lyricist, rather than a complete prerequisite of the genre. Gothic Metal bands typically do not write their albums in the form of separate songs; they rather write concept albums in the form of books. This is so that each song acts as a part, or, chapter, inspiring people to listen to the whole album in order to hear the story, instead of just certain songs. penumbra'S eclusion and Silentium's Sufferion - Hamartia of Prudence are two gothic metal albums that feature this style of lyrics.

Gothic metal bands normally have two vocalists, (also known as "Beauty and the Beast" vocals). One vocalist is typically male and uses vocals akin to black or death metal. The other vocalist is usually female, and often uses soprano vocals, or harmonic singing. Sometimes bands will use other forms of vocals included with the two prior vocalists, including (but not limited to) female death/black vocals, gregorian chanting and male singing, but this tends to be limited to backing vocals and their use within the song.