Nattradio – The Longest Night

And now for something completely different to anything I have heard in the last couple of years, as you don’t come across this type of music very often. I’m referring to The Longest Night (2025), second full-length by Swedish duo Nattradio.

For a change let’s beging this journey through ‘the longest night’ by looking at the album cover. According to the band, Nattradio boasted that all songs were written and recorded between 1 AM and 5 AM. Therefore, also the album cover depicts the lonely, brightly lit window in the dark shape of the nightly high-rise where the album was written & recorded. It heavily reflects the somberness and emotional weight of sleepless late-night hours.

Tracklist:

1. Shadow Speaker
2. Sketches From The Dark
3. Allright For Now
4. Dark Streets
5. Night
6. Shifting Baseline
7. All For You
8. Rainbirds
9. The Longest Night

The Longest Night consists of nine lengthy tracks, in a gothic & doom metal way where the band builds upon the melancholic style of 90s gothic/doom metal, offering a modern interpretation of darkness and despair. It applies a slow, moody, and melancholic atmospheres recorded in the deep hours of the night. On The Longest Night they blend a gothic and atmospheric doom with darkwave and ambient influences, and sometimes even Jazz noir from the 90s, characterized by slow tempos, somber tones and cinematic tension. It constantly creates those cinematic soundscapes that are essential for this kind of music. Furthermore it features a high, emotive and soft vocal delivery from Martin Boman, which adds a ‘precarious edge to the music. It also features layered, melancholic guitar work by Niklas Brodd that defines their cold, atmospheric sound. The guitars blend slow, doom-laden riffs with airy, emotional passages.

Two stand-out and exceptional tracks for me are the opening “Shadow Speaker” and “Alright for Now” as I believe these two particular songs are the best representatives of their sound where Nattradio combines slow, pensive doom with electronic and post-punk elements. Meanwhile, a track like “Sketches from the Dark” (watch the video below) is another strong song which complements the title track’s slow, moody progression, featuring soft vocals and a cozy melancholia that favors atmosphere over heavy riffing. Ultimately, I’d like to praise the atmosphere on the album, for being cozy, spacious, melancholic and immersively cold, perfect for midnight listening!

Even after three spins The Longest Night still feels as an unique listening experience that bridges gothic rock, doom metal and darkwave. On the whole, I very much enjoyed listening to this well-crafted, atmospheric and melancholic opus from Nattradio. Highly recommended for fans of melancholic gothic/doom/dark/ambient/darkwave and the likes of My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Soliloquium, Draconian etc. I heartily encourage you to do yourself a favour and obtain a copy of this marvellous album, a jewel-case CD with 24-page booklet, from DSR here.

For more information on this second instalment from Swedish duo Nattradio visit their bandcamp or just hit the ‘play’ button below and lose yourself in their consistent yet slow-burning evocative journey of isolation and melancholia.