The Breathing Shadow is the first album by the Swedish rock 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).

The songs "Nightfall Overture" and "The Dreamreader" were re-recorded on the 2004 compilation album, Nightfall Overture.