The genesis of Usquam is about to arrive.
In 2025, Alain “Alwan” Nicolle, (bass/concept), Jessy “Christ” Vignolle (vocals), Jonathan “Draugr” Diedrich (guitar) and Étienne “Eithenn” Gonin (guitar) bring us their debut album, Ex Nihilo, with support from Source Atone Records.
The album gets off to a majestic start with Altar Ego, an opening track that embraces both orchestration and Jessy‘s saturated vocals, offering both aggressive and melodic sounds. The track reaches its climax before giving way to Axis Mundi and its devastating blast, calling as much for screams as for a few spoken words during the surge, before returning to the surge between Black and Death Metal. Athanor sets a more ominous mood with its dissonant introduction, but the violence quickly resurfaces with its frantic screams and riffs, only to be halted by the final and its few words, giving way to the ritual of Ego Sum (Qui Sum). It’s also quickly obliterated by rage and blast, but there are a few elements that bring it back to mind, especially with the backing vocals, but also the French cries that reinforce the heavy side, just as on Arcana Nox, where the sound is deliberately slow, crushing and above all very dark. The melodies are also more enigmatic, but give way to aggression on Egocide, a composition that initially flirts with the extremes of each style while weaving in dark harmonics. The track then slows down and takes on a majestic quality, similar to that of the furious The Mast, where rage is generally preferred, while offering melancholy leads that link easily with the faster passages. The final allows us to breathe before taking in the raw groove of Symbol, where the rhythm is relatively jerky while leaving total freedom to the vocals, which don’t hesitate to wander from saturation to soothing quietude. Perseverance continues with a rather stifling, but at the same time very dark, dynamic that veers almost towards Post-Black with airy harmonics, bringing the album to an intriguing climax.
The French scene is full of nuggets, and Usquam is certainly one of them. Whether Ex Nihilo is a very good album, listening to it several times is necessary to grasp all its nuances, and I can only recommend that you do so to fully appreciate it!
90/100
A few questions for Alwan, bassist with Usquam, on the release of their debut album Ex Nihilo.
Hello, and thank you for your time! Without using the usual Metal labels, such as “Black Metal” or “Death Metal”, how would you describe the band Usquam?
Alwan (bass): We talk about Blackened Metal or Dark Metal. Dark, “blackened” Metal with Black, Death, Post, Doom influences… all the dark components of Metal, in fact. The name Black Metal has its own codes and framework. It has its own sound, its own codes, its own essence, its own identity. It’s absolutely not ours. Out of deep respect for this musical style, we can’t define our style as Black Metal.
The name Usquam is relatively new to me. How do you personally relate it to the band’s music?
Alwan: Usquam means “somewhere” in Latin. It fits in well with our composite musical style, which doesn’t stop at a predefined perimeter. Ideologically, it also fits with our desire to think outside the box. Ideologies kill. Current events prove it every day: thinking within a single, defined, non-evolving framework can’t lead to anything good.
Ex Nihilo, your debut album, is about to be released. How do you feel about it? Have you had any feedback on it yet?
Alwan: A first album is an important step. The groundwork was laid with our first EP, Reborn, but the band took on a much more mature identity with Ex Nihilo. Early feedback seems to recognize this maturity in arrangements and composition. The oriental and mystical influences have also been well received by the public, and that’s a very good thing!
How would you sum up Ex Nihilo in three words?
Alwan: Mystical / powerful / melodic.
The album Ex Nihilo will be released at the beginning of 2025. Why did you choose this name for the album, and what does it mean?
Alwan: It can be translated from Latin as “Starting from nothing”. For a first album, this seems particularly appropriate. What’s more, the full expression “ex nihilo nihil fit” means that nothing comes from nothing. This brings us back to the idea of multiple influences giving us our own identity, and to one of the themes we like to tackle, that of the cycle.
Usquam started out in 2018, but didn’t bring out their first album until 2025, seven years later. What was the creative process like for the band? What developments would you highlight?
Alwan: When you say it like that, it’s a bit of a slap in the face ah ah! The band didn’t really start to take shape until 2020, and the 1st EP came out in 2021. The time is not so much for creation as for finding a line-up that works musically and humanly. You spend 30 minutes to 1 hour on stage when you’re touring. The rest of the time is taken up with human relations of all kinds. It’s imperative that it works! This was originally a solo project. It’s not easy to go from “one man band” to a group. In fact, this album took a year to compose. The main evolutions are the maturity linked to the gestation time before composition and the arrival of Jessy Christ on vocals.
When I listen to Ex Nihilo, I find it has a very dissonant, aggressive atmosphere. How do you manage to link all the members’ influences to create something coherent?
Alwan: On this album, as on the EP, I composed the whole base on my own… but I rely on all the other members and regularly ask for their point of view before deciding. So consistency is never a problem. On the other hand, I’m careful not to lock myself into a compositional pattern, and the input of others is essential! Eithenn has made a huge contribution in terms of guitar arrangements. He’s a talented instrumentalist with whom we share the same melodic sense. Jessy‘s vocal skills also made a huge contribution. I was looking to mix clear and saturated vocals, with oriental influences. She’s a professional singer, and she was able to bring all that to the table and come up with new ideas with disconcerting ease. She got to know the songs and recorded them in a very short space of time. It’s great to work like that. As for Draugr, he brings an essential stability to the band. He was the first to join the band, so he’s an important cog in the wheel. Everyone has their own role to play, and it works really well that way…
I’ve also noticed a great deal of vocal diversity on Ex Nihilo. How do you manage to place your vocals in relation to the riffs? What are your influences and how do you manage to blend them together?
Alwan: Vocal diversity is a natural part of our compositional framework: the tracks are not conceived as riffs, but as songs in their own right. It’s an approach in its own right. Stacking and chaining riffs together is what a lot of metal bands do. It can be very technical, well arranged and interpreted… but it doesn’t necessarily make for good songs. In the end, only a musician’s audience is really receptive to it. The term may sound like “easy listening”, but it’s a conscious choice: we write songs with a capital of melodies that are easy to remember. This line is one of Usquam‘s signatures.
I notice that most of the lyrics are in French, but some of the titles are in Latin. Why did you do this choice?
Alwan: Since the first album, we’ve sung in three languages, each with its own characteristics. English for its musicality, Latin for its sacred and philosophical foundations, and French because it’s our mother tongue and has an extraordinary melodic richness. This composite song is a marker of our identity. Why choose?
I know it’s a difficult question, but do you have a favorite track on this album? Or the one that seemed the most natural to compose?
Alwan: Difficult indeed… but based on the answer to your fourth question, we’d have to say that Altar Ego, our first single, is pretty representative because it combines mysticism, power and melody.
Ex Nihilo is released in collaboration with Source Atone Records. How did the collaboration go?
Alwan: We were thinking about self-production, but we contacted a very limited number of labels to propose the release of this album. They got hooked on the music and things just happened naturally. As with any partnership, we want this collaboration to be as constructive as possible.
I haven’t found any record of Usquam playing live to date. Do you ever plan to get up on stage and perform your songs? If not, why not?
Alwan: The first EP was released during the COVID pandemic, so no live performances were possible. The composition of the album then focused all our attention. For this album it’s different, and dates are planned between March and April 2025, including the second edition of the Atone Mass festival organized by our label. We’re also canvassing festivals and organizers to help people discover our universe and defend it in front of as many people as possible.
What are the next projects for Usquam?
Alwan: Behind the scenes, we’re working on a new video clip. We’re also looking to share the band’s universe, by tackling key themes for us, through several podcast episodes (the use of A.I., the themes tackled in the lyrics…) It’s a way of going deeper into the mysteries of the project. On the live front, we’re preparing a residency to fine-tune our live formula, which we’d like to be very… luminous. After that, we’re going to try and do more concerts.
Are there any musicians or artists you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
Alwan: Get Marilyn Manson to sing on a track. Don’t you have that in your contacts? ^^
Do you think you’ve improved as a musician with this album?
Alwan: Not so much as an instrumentalist, but as a musician, yes. On a personal note, I’ve been learning to play percussion in a traditional Celtic music orchestra for the past two years. This has helped me enormously to feel the “pulse” essential to collective playing. There’s a lot to be gained from thinking outside the Metal box!
What bands do you dream of playing with? I’ll let you imagine your dream show with Usquam opening, and three other bands.
Alwan: Opening for Dimmu Borgir, Behemoth and Carcass. Come on, you’ve got to believe in your dreams… ^^
Last question: what dish would you compare Usquam‘s music to?
Alwan: A spicy Indian curry with a glass of Burgundy. Yummy!
That was my last question, so thank you for your availability, and the last words are yours!
Alwan : Thank you for this interview. Thanks to you, we finally know our totem dish ah ah… Long live Acta Infernalis!