Nightingale

Nightingale
STYLE: ORIGIN: SwedenFORMED: 1994LABEL: InsideOut Music
  • MEMBERS:
  • Dan Swanö-Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
  • Dag Swanö-Guitars, Keyboards
  • Erik Oskarsson-Bass
  • Tom Björn-Drums
BIOGRAPHY

Nightingale is a progressive rock/metal band from Örebro in Sweden.

Nightingale began in 1995 as a solo goth rock project of Dan Swanö, designed to explore his brief fascination with the genre, also evident on Edge of Sanity tracks such as “Sacrificed“. The first album, The Breathing Shadow, was recorded and mastered by Swanö alone in the space of a week at his home Unisound studio, and has been described by some as a tribute to legendary goth rock band The Sisters of Mercy, whose sound it does indeed resemble. The second album The Closing Chronicles was recorded in April 1996 with his brother Dag acting as producer, and contributing some guitar parts. Unlike the first album, it is somewhat influenced by progressive rock and heavy metal, and continues the conceptual storyline that began in The Breathing Shadow to the logical conclusion of the central characters’ death, as it was intended to be the last Nightingale album.

After this the band went on semi-hiatus, playing a couple of live concerts in small venues around Örebro with future permanent band member Erik Oskarsson on bass and Ari Halinoja playing the drums. The second concert, in October 1998 is remarkable because it was one of the few times Edge of Sanity songs were performed live by Swanö, the band adding two lighter tracks to bulk out their set (Swanö scarcely performed live with Edge of Sanity, citing his inability to sustain death metal vocals for long enough).

The band returned to Unisound in April 1999 to expand upon a lost demo of the track “I Return” recorded by Dan and Dag in September 1998. The album “I from 2000 is a prequel to the first two albums, half composed by Dan and half by Dag, several of the tracks, such as “Alonely” and “Dead or Alive” being recycled by Dag from previously abandoned projects and given new lyrics (the originals being both written in Swedish and outside the conceptual storyline). For the recording of “Alive Again” in May 2002 (a sequel to the original Breathing Shadow Trilogy of “I”, “The Breathing Shadow” and “The Closing Chronicles”) the band was filled out with Tom Björn on drums and Erik Oskarsson returning as a permanent member. This record received the most critical acclaim yet upon its release in February 2003, partly owing to the increased exposure caused by their signing of a distribution deal with American label The End Records. They played a series of live shows before travelling to Västerås in June 2004 to record Invisible, which is the band’s first departure from their conceptual storyline approach, dealing with a wide array of topics from love to history. Before going on their first major tour, the band re-recorded a set of tracks for a best-of album, Nightfall Overture, containing songs from their first four conceptual albums, an Edge of Sanity track and one new Nightingale song.

The band’s sixth album White Darkness was released June 4, 2007.

On October 19, 2014, Nightingale released their seventh studio album entitled Retribution, a follow-up to 2007’s White Darkness through the band’s new worldwide label InsideOut Music on November 10, 2014 in Europe and January 25, 2015 in North America.

DISCOGRAPHY

Retribution / 2015

Retribution
  • Album Info
  • 2015
  • InsideOut Music

White Darkness / 2007

Nightingale-White Darkness
  • Album Info
  • 2007
  • Black Mark Production

1. The Fields of Life
2. Trial and Error
3. One Way Ticket
4. Reasons
5. Wounded Soul
6. Hideaway
7. To My Inspiration
8. White Darkness
9. Belief
10. Trust

White Darkness is a sixth studio album by the Swedish rock band Nightingale, released by Black Mark Production in 2007. The song-writing on the album was mainly by Dag Swanö, with Dan Swanö contributing only the rare lyric or bridge.

The Chinese characters on the cover art (永不放弃) means “never give up”.

Nightfall Overture / 2005

Nightingale-Nightfall Overture
  • Album Info
  • 2005
  • Black Mark Production

1. Nightfall Overture
2. Dreamreader
3. Revival
4. Steal the Moon
5. Alonely
6. I Return
7. Shadowland Serenade
8. Glory Days
9. Losing Myself (Edge of Sanity cover)
10. Better Safe than Sorry

Nightfall Overture is a best of compilation album by the Swedish progressive/AOR metal/rock band Nightingale. Tracks 1-8 are re-recorded songs from the band’s first four albums (two per album), a cover version of an Edge of Sanity song “Losing Myself” from the album Infernal, and one new song, “Better Safe Than Sorry“.

Invisible / 2004

Nightingale-Invisible
  • Album Info
  • 2004
  • Black Mark Production

1. Still Alive
2. Invisible
3. A Raincheck on My Demise
4. Atlantis Rising
5. To the End
6. Misery
7. The Wake
8. One of the Lonely Ones
9. Worlds Apart
10. Stalingrad

Invisible is the fifth full-length studio album by the Swedish progressive/AOR metal/rock band Nightingale. The track “Still Alive” is the end of the Breathing Shadow story. The rest of this album is not a concept/story album.

Alive Again: The Breathing Shadow Part IV / 2003

Nightingale-Alive Again: The Breathing Shadow Part IV
  • Album Info
  • 2003
  • Black Mark Production

1. Recollections
2. Shadowman
3. The Glory Days
4. Falling
5. Into the Light
6. Eternal
7. State of Shock
8. The One
9. Shadowland Serenade
10. Forever and Never

Alive Again is the fourth full-length studio album by the Swedish progressive/AOR metal/rock band Nightingale. Subtitled “The Breathing Shadow, Part IV“, it is the last album completely devoted to The Breathing Shadow story.

This is the first release with Erik Oskarsson and Tom Björn in the band.

Alive Again continues the hard rock/AOR direction of the band’s previous two albums, with poppier vocals and progressive arrangements.

I / 2000

Nightingale-I
  • Album Info
  • 2000
  • Black Mark Productions

1. Scarred for Life
2. Still in the Dark
3. The Game
4. Game Over
5. Remorse and Regret
6. Alonely
7. I Return
8. Drowning in Sadness
9. Dead or Alive
10. The Journey’s End
11. Breathing

I is the third full-length studio album by Swedish progressive/AOR metal/rock band Nightingale. The album is a prequel to The Breathing Shadow story from the first two albums. With this album release, Nightingale solidifies its dark, 1970s progressive hard rock style.

The Closing Chronicles / 1996

Nightingale-The Closing Chronicles
  • Album Info
  • 1996
  • Black Mark Productions

1. Deep Inside of Nowhere
2. Revival
3. Thoughts from a Stolen Soul
4. So Long (Still I Wonder)
5. Steal the Moon
6. Intermezzo
7. Alive Again

The Closing Chronicles (subtitled: The Breathing Shadow II) is the second studio album by the Swedish progressive/AOR metal/rock band Nightingale, released by Black Mark Production in 1996. The album continues the story begun on The Breathing Shadow. Though it finds Swanö moving into the 1970s/AOR-orientated sound that became the band’s trademark, the music is not as bombastic as their later albums due to the songs’ stark arrangements giving the album an introspective, melancholy feeling. This is the first album to feature Dag Swanö (with alias “Tom Nouga”) on guitars and keyboards, as well as produce the album.

The Breathing Shadow / 1995

Nightingale-The Breathing Shadow
  • Album Info
  • 1995
  • Black Mark Production

1. Nightfall Overture
2. Sleep…
3. The Dreamreader
4. Higher than the Sky
5. Recovery Opus
6. The Return to Dreamland
7. Gypsy Eyes
8. Alone?
9. A Lesson in Evil
10. Eye for an Eye

The Breathing Shadow is the first album by the band Nightingale. It was recorded and mixed within a week by Dan Swanö alone at his Unisound studio; Nightingale did not yet exist as a band, and was simply a solo project by Swanö. This is the only album of Nightingale to use a drum machine (the other albums have Swanö or someone else on drums). Unlike the hard rock/AOR-oriented direction of later albums, The Breathing Shadow showcases the style of goth rock similar to The Sisters of Mercy. The songs “Nightfall Overture” and “The Dreamreader” were re-recorded on the 2004 compilation album, Nightfall Overture.

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