Biography
1998-1999: The early days
Influenced by the burgeoning 90’s black metal scene, such as Swiss fellow band Samael, Summoning, Abigor, Kovenant or Dimmu Borgir, the group forged their own electronic-industrial dark metal style in the early 2000’s using cosmic synths extravaganza, imagery and lyrics. While vocals appealed to extreme metal fans, the songs also had an undeniable sense of rhythm and melody that stood apart from most metal acts and infused a combination of curiosity, talent and musical freedom.
Chief songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Wacinski, vocalist Dave Genillard and bass player Al, three outsider 90’s teenagers with an affinity for heavy music and a rebellious need to craft something different, founded Nightshade in the summer of 1998. The band was named after Summoning’s 1997 EP “Nightshade Forests”. In the early days, on a bus trip to Poland, Thomas and Al drew the band’s logo on a napkin. When they came back home to Switzerland, a first DIY photo session followed, using a self-timeout camera and an old-school photographic film. While the photo was taken in the woods like nearly every black metal band at the time, it had already the particular space imagery with a galaxy showing behind the gate of the fortress located in Saint-Maurice, Switzerland.
At the time, the band had not finished a single song. From October 1998, they started rehearsing every week. Thomas’ parents’ garage was transformed into a tiny rehearsal room with carpets and egg cartons. Early on, the writing approach was determined: Thomas, who has a classic music background, was writing all the music on piano and synths, plus doing the programming, then writing guitar riffs. Al’s bass was based on guitars, Dave’s vocals were added at the end, usually not influencing the song structures.
1999: First recording, Andromeda’s Heart
In the fall of 1998, a first tape demo started to circulate among select fans, getting the band’s early critics an early chance to discover their unique material. Reactions were mixed on song structures, deemed too progressive, too complicated and demanding, non “commercial” enough. Demo tapes eventually reached Jean-Michel Cherix, the founder of the CEM Music School and recording studios where Al was a bass guitar student. His studio walls were decorated with pictures of regional bands recording. Nightshade, who were still in their teens with no experience of recording, dreamt of having their picture there too. A few months later, Jean-Michel agreed to record, mix and master their first demo, “Andromeda’s heart”, in April 1999, using a Fostex 16-track tape recorder and all-analog old-school gear – this marked the band’s first first recording experience in a semi-professional setting.
The 1999 debut EP “Andromeda’s Heart”, a super-symphonic and avant-gardist black-metal influenced material, heralded the band’s distinctive, uncanny and progressive style.
Roughly at the same time, the band also released “Vox Sanguinis”, an ultra-limited compilation that circulated in the underground metal tape circuit of the late 90’s.
2001: Galaxies, the follow-on, and the first LP Nebula Trance
Playing live wasn’t yet an option at the time, due to the use of the drum machine deemed unfit for stage performance. Right after Andromeda’s Heart, the band decided to record another demo, Galaxies, in February 2000. The demo set the foundation for what would become the first LP, Nebula Trance. It had more straightforward song structures, more memorable riffs and vocals, but sounded very raw and unfinished.
Galaxies was an ultra-limited edition, with less than 50 copies ever made. With a poor mixing and mastering, despite going back to the CEM studios , it was never meant to be an actual release, more of an evolution of their art in preparation for the full album: songs from the Galaxies demo formed roughly half of the next LP, Nebula Trance.
In winter 2000-2001, the band recorded overdubs to the recordings on Galaxies, and an additional 7 new songs that would form Nebula Trance in 2001. The album revealed Nightshade doing a formulaic music that sounded like virtually no other band (maybe except Samae!)l: bombastic rhythms, melodic riffs and synths with a classic finesse, yet reminiscent of dark 80’s electro-synth vibes. Production-wise, this sounded much less like a demo, and more like an album, with a cleaner production emphasized semi- industrial influences. The production earned the band many comparisons, often as inferior, to swiss fellow band Samael.
2003-2004: The Wired era
Without a recording label, the self-produced EP “Wired” went into harder-hitting territory though it remained more accessible than “Nebula Trance”. Following this release, gigs came quickly in the burgeoning swiss metal scene and the band started performing more frequently. The band hit the stage for the mini “wired swiss tour”, playing on stage at times every week-end and also abroad, establishing its own outsider’s anthems among the swiss underground metal scene.
In 2004, a live broadcast on the Swiss National Television marked a turning point for the band, establishing themselves as a relevant alternative to existing metal bands, gradually forging their name out of the dynamic underground swiss metal scene of the mid- 2000’s.
As enabling as this record was for the band, it also revealed the need to evolve in a way more consistent with the rapid evolution of the metal genres in the 2004-2006 era.
Several years of regular live performances raised questions about the ongoing creative direction of the band, where their sound was based on drum machines and a style being too often, and sometimes unnecessarily, compared to Samael.
2006: Nightshade renames to Xicon
With the rapid evolution of the metal genre, guitar assaults started to reign supreme and the band decided it should integrate real drums and put heavier rhythm guitars on the front stage of their music. With Thomas being a multi-instrumentalist, and originally a drummer, the move back to drums became quite natural.
The band recorded at home the “Elektribe” demo, which was never released, but formed the basis of the next material. They went on pursuing a heavier style with “Theogony” (2006), though in large part written in the Nightshade era, with a fuller sound and bigger production. A truly transformative work that took the band from self-produced recordings to professional production. This move was made possible thanks to Pat Aeby who was at the time drummer for Swiss legendary rock band Krokus and owner of Soundlake Studios.
Taking their sound to yet another level, a new guitarist, Fabio Coia, joined the band as lead guitarist in 2007 following the release of Theogony, playing lead guitar skillfully.
In 2011, they released “Monument”, with melodic death influences and a more industrial approach to production. The album took nearly two years to record and mix and raised multiple tensions within the band and with their producer Pat Aeby. In 2011, Thomas called it quits. Ludwar replaced founding drummer Thomas on drums. The band played on several shows but disbanded two years later in 2013. Its members remained active in various music groups including 3 Days of Silence, Duthaig or drone act Diablerets, among others.
2019 – Reunion and “Sounds of Dark Matter”
After a few gap years of recuperation, on Halloween of 2019, Nightshade was reimagined as a duo by its founding members David, vocals and lyrics, and Thomas taking the duties on guitar, synth and drums. Heavier material emerged out of the spirit of their 1999 debut EP, offering a darker, more sophisticated atmosphere impregnated by the band’s distinctive sonic aesthetics. The LP “Sounds Of Dark Matter” (released November 2021 via My Kingdom Music), set a new milestone for the band: exit the drum machine, enter modern production to capture the raw creativity akin to the band’s early days. With enthusiastic media reception, eight songs create a unique and perceptive universe of melodic and impressionist soundscapes that ingeniously contort new wave-inspired synths and beats with black metal inspired riffs and harsh vocals.
In the fall of 2023, the band announced it was working on new material.