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DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA

Progressive Metal • Sweden


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Diablo Swing Orchestra picture
Diablo Swing Orchestra biography
Founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 2003

The Diablo Swing Orchestra is an avant-metal band from Sweden. The origins of their name are explained on their website, though the story has more to do with fiction than with fact. According to it, in the 16th Century there was an orchestra in Sweden that "played like no other" and that defied the ruling, wealthy, powerful Church with music that give the people a "new view" of life. The Church deemed the music satanic, calling the ensemble "the Devil's Orchestra". As the influence of the ensemble proved hard to eliminate, according to the story, its members were finally framed for murder and forced to hide. After a reward was offered, the orchestra's members were finally caught and hanged.

The legend says that, before being captured, the orchestra's members "signed a pact saying that their descendants were given the task of reuniting the orchestra in 500 years and continue their work of spreading thought-provoking music". Thus, a few centuries later, two of the current Diablo Swing Orchestra's members, supposedly descendants of the original 16th Century members, reunited in a local music shop and start talking about music, which only lead them to discover that they were the ones meant to resurrect the Orchestra of old. And this is how The Diablo Swing Orchestra came to exist. (quotes from the band's MySpace site).

The music they play is a highly original avant-metal. Lots of jazz, (swing), some funky tones, but also a big classical influence (with operatic vocals) and, of course, rock and metal. The orchestration of the songs is also very unique, with all kinds of keyboard, wind instruments and percussion. If one moment one can think the music is just plain metal (even power metal), it only takes one second for the band to switch to styles as varied as flamenco or jazz, or go for more atmospheric, gloomy passages. If there's one band that truly deserves to be called "avant-metal", then this one is it.

The music this band plays is absolutely progressive, trascending genre barriers and also creating a unique, incredibly original experience.

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DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA discography


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DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.86 | 186 ratings
The Butcher's Ballroom
2006
4.04 | 215 ratings
Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious
2009
3.94 | 180 ratings
Pandora's Piñata
2012
4.14 | 158 ratings
Pacifisticuffs
2017
2.79 | 34 ratings
Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole
2021

DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.31 | 10 ratings
Borderline Hymns
2003

DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2021
2.79 | 34 ratings

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Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by Nikols

1 stars I like the first three albums of this group. The fourth album left mixed impressions. And the fifth album is impossible to listen to properly because of the terrible recording. As far as I know, the musicians intentionally made this sound. Why this was done is unclear to me. Perhaps the material itself is good, but I can't bring myself to listen to the music in such quality. I give the lowest rating for sound quality. I hope that someday the band's musicians will reconsider their attitude towards this album and release it with a normal sound. And then it will be possible to fully evaluate the musical material itself.
 The Butcher's Ballroom by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2006
3.86 | 186 ratings

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The Butcher's Ballroom
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by Cello Carneiro

4 stars it's a very very amazing miscelaneous of Heavy, Prog, Cabaret, Opera, etc. One more tipical creativitiy in swedish heavy metal circle, like Pain of Salvation, Therion and Opeth. I love different sounds, and it needs some courage!!!!!!!! When I listened "Balrog Boogie", for the first time, I thought: Yeah! Maybe this is a new way to be followed! A real good surprise in this first work. Even years later, there's no other band making some type of sound, they're still unique. One night, I opened a wine and sat on a sofa. I was alone at home. Nothing like increase the sound, drink a wine, listening a good album. Yeah! This album was Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious Heavy, melodic, well conducted, excelent musicians, creative...outstanding!
 Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2021
2.79 | 34 ratings

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Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

2 stars DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA has been and remains one of those true freaks of nature swimming upstream and going against every orthodox trend in the world of music yet somehow manages to defy all odds and manages to catch the world's attention with each new release. This Swedish band shocked the metal world with its 2006 debut "The Butcher's Ballroom" that effortlessly juggled the disparate genres of extreme metal, swing jazz and opera into a jaw dropping masterpiece of avant-metal splendor. While the following "Sing Along Songs For The Damned & Delirious" may have been more of the same, the formula was so out of the box in its approach that two installments of this wacky crazed infusion of music madness was well in order.

With the band's third album though the band began to chill out a bit and crafted more straight forward fusion-loaded possibilities with shorter tracks that focused on less chaotic juxtapositions of elements therefore it was a shock for the band to return with "Pacifticuffs" that focused on extremely complex and abstract progressive rock workouts, an album that worked quite well for yours truly. Well, DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA is back once again with SWAGGER & STROLL DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE and this time around, the DSO has decidedly reverted back to the immediacy of "Pandora's Piñata" with more direct songs on the shorter side without the abstractness and complexities of its predecessor.

This is a lengthy album clocking in at 61 minutes and to be honest one of my least favorites of this creative band so far. Gone are the wacky diva wailing over swing jazz and metal bombast. Gone is the magic that once animated DSO so well. While DSO has not abandoned its love of every genre in the book, it has though abandoned the fusion aspects for the most part. Right from the getgo the rather weak "Sightseeing in the Apocalypse" which opens the album features none of the band's classic genres. Instead it's some sort of electro pop anthem that goes nowhere. The following "War Painted Valentine" is the track that should've started the album with heavy metal guitar riffing and mariachi band motifs and is probably one of the most recognizable and memorable of the entire album.

Starting with the third track "Celebramos Lo Inevitable," the album seems to flail around like a headless chicken. This track is basically a Mexican mariachi track that adds a bit of metal guitar but it's all so predictable and substandard to what the band has done in the past and quite weak. The album feels even lamer once followed by the electro swing "Speed Dating An Arsonist" which sounds like anything bands like Caravan Palace would crank out. Not bad by any means but hardly a DSO classic. It just gets worse with "Jig Of The Century" which is some sort of Queen inspired folk rock tune. The Queen inspiration mostly from the vocal harmonies. Songs like "The Sound of an Unconditional Surrender" almost sound like an admission of defeat for a once innovative band that has become content simply covering songs rather than crafting original fusion. This track is utterly forgettable.

"Malign Monologues" returns to swing and sounds like a real jazz band with a few metal leanings and a bit of tango but once again weak by DSO standards. The mess continues with more electro swing, symphonic ballads, more mariachi, cheesy metal and dark cabaret music. Ugh. Everything just sounds so half-assed and honestly this album resembles an archival release of unused tracks than a proper album. I'm a huge fan of this band and i have to say that this is definitely the biggest disappointment of the year. While no tracks are bad per se, none are memorable and everything is inferior to pretty much anything DSO has released in the past. This is a RABBIT HOLE that i will not be going down again and this album ranks as the worst this band has released to date. Thumbs down.

 Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2009
4.04 | 215 ratings

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Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by MisterBen69

5 stars I have been a consistent Progarchives user/lover for a couple years now and by being a younger member of the so-called "Generation Z" I have been left with a plethora of music I have discovered due to this site. Although I have used this website on a reoccurring basis, for some strange reason it has only been until now that I have felt the desire to become a member and chip in my two cents.

With that being said, I felt it was necessary to have my first review be Diablo Swing Orchestra's second album and masterpiece, Sing-Along Songs for The Damned & Delirious. DSO blows my head completely the hell off every time I listen, which is frequently. This album, along with the rest of their discography, is hard-hitting, unique, energetic, and just down right fun to listen to. Even with incorporating many obscure instruments and uncommon aspects on this record, such as the operatic singing from AnnLouice Lögdlund, DSO still managed to create a cohesive string of songs rather than a humble-jumble of overwhelming randomness.

I really don't know if what I have typed out makes any sense whatsoever, nor do I care, since I don't believe that I could clearly articulate the love I have for this album and this band if I tried. I also have no idea how many people are still using this site, what the demographic is on here, or if anyone will read this review and hold my opinion as valid, but just know this: This album seamlessly incorporates aspects of metal, electronic, jazz, and opera into one gigantic prog treasure and it deserves a [%*!#]-ton more respect than I've seen it get. Good day.

Zillion stars / 5

 Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2009
4.04 | 215 ratings

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Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by Kempokid
Collaborator Prog Metal Team

4 stars While Diablo Swing Orchestra's The Butcher's Ballroom was very much was I expected from a band with such an identity, being quirky gothic rock in the vein of Aurelio Voltaire on steroids, with a more metal oriented sound, while also encompassing a wide variety of genres into the music. This album however, is what I was hoping to hear, being far more bombastic and insane than their first album, with more focus on straight up metal to complement the wide range of styles undertaken, leading to a much louder, more heavy album overall. I personally find it to be a big step up in essentially every way to their debut, being heavier, more entertaining, much more bizarre, and most of all, a lot more consistent.

Just like with their debut, simply classing this as swing metal would be quite an understatement, as while the big band sound does appear in quite a number of tracks, other styles such as tango, mariachi, or just straight up prog metal all bleed through, providing great deals of eclecticism to the album. While there are many songs which employ heavy use of this big band style, the opener, A Tapdancer's Dilemma is definitely my favourite of them. The song is simply brimming with energy and insanity, with even the soft moments containing a latent manic bombast to them, accentuated by the wonderful guitar and bass, switching between heavy riffing and restrained staccato. The vocals are also wonderfully out there in general, now the male vocals being just as insane and dramatic, providing an even more strange tone to everything. Another example of this incredible energy is the bouncy, unhinged Bedlam Sticks, whic along with being another song that just never sits still, makes things even more wild with the inclusion of various bizarre voices chanting the chorus, sounding like a pack of small demonic creatures of some sort. Of the 10 songs, 7 of them are an absolute joy to listen to, and one of them is a short interlude, all of which I'd mostly say similar things about, with a couple of exceptions (which I'll get to in a bit). However, there are two songs that don't quite click with me in the same way, Memoirs of A Roadkill and Ricerca Dell'Anima. While neither of these are bad songs by any stretch, Memoirs feels like the one experiment on the album that doesn't quite pan out, without anything appropriately strange to fit in with everything else on the album, causing it to feel somewhat unneeded. Ricerca Dell'Anima I have less of an issue with, but I simply find it to be less impressive all around, lacking the same kind of impact as the others both in terms of composition and execution, having less memorable memories along with a less interesting performance on the whole.

There are two songs on the album which I do find to be very clear highlights, both being more prog metal oriented than the other tracks and using the extra genres as an addition to heighten the experience. This shows the avenue in which the band could further grow and improve. The first of these songs is Lucy Fears the Morning Star, which has an amazing trumpet buildup that then completely blasts everything away as extremely groovy, heavy guitar riffs make their way in, before softening and becoming more of an eerie creeping sensation rather than stomping around. I love the frenetic breaks in the melody where the cellos weave their way through. As the song slowly rises in power, more powerful riffs make their way in, overpowering everything as the listener feels completely obliged to lose themselves within the rhythm. This repeats once more through, being somewhat more powerful this second time however, and vocal distortions mimicking a small child becoming even more prominent, not to mention unnerving. After this, out of nowhere, the song completely shifts gears and goes full mariachi, which initialliy I wasn't the keenest on, but now I honestly couldn't imagine the song being so great without this fun way to end it. The other song that I find hits all marks spectacularly is the closing piece, Stratosphere Serenade, starting off displaying an incredibly majesty to it, with the cello and guitar playing off each other perfectly, before they both properly kick off, the cello leading with an almost mournful tone to it. One thing I noticed almost immediately was the presence of the more standard male vocals, a big change from basically the entirety of the album, which I find works incredibly here for what feels like a somewhat more serious song. Everyting about this first half of the song feels far more subdued than anything else the album presents, which works perfectly both for an album closer, and then completely catching the listener off guard with the masterful second half. Just over halfway through the song, everything cuts and fades out, only to be replaced with a futuristic sound in the form of a repeated riff with heavy amounts of alteration to the base sound, heavy reverb and the like in the background, and then the song just builds. It continues adding all the elements to it and then continuing to tweak elements here and there, adding sound effects, taking others away, slightly altering various elements of the outro as the fast faced guitar and drums continue repeating. This section is by far my favourite part of the entire album, and caps it off superbly.

Overall, I far prefer this album to the first, as it expands upon all the things done right and then ups the insanity tenfold. Almost every song here works absolutely perfectly, being intensely fun and infectoius, the catch being almost all, which is the one issue I do have with this album, that there are 2 songs in a row that damage the flow of the album to some extent, which is fortunately saved by the fact that Stratosphere Serenade is just so great. Overall, I would recommend this album to anyone who likes some stranger stuff that also knows what fun is, as while not the most complex album, it's definitely extreme amounts of fun.

Best songs: A Tapdancer's Dilemma, Lucy Fears The Morning Star, Stratosphere Serenade

Weakest songs: Memoirs of A Roadkill, Ricerca Dell'Anima

Verdict: Extremely fun almost all the way through, and a must listen for anyone who like quirky, heavy music, as this is definitely very well executed in that regard.

 The Butcher's Ballroom by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2006
3.86 | 186 ratings

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The Butcher's Ballroom
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by Kempokid
Collaborator Prog Metal Team

3 stars When listening to this album with the term 'swing metal' being the only information I had about them, I expected an entire album full of some lighthearted, jazzy fun. What I got instead was a much more varied, eclectic album taking inspiration from symphonic metal bands such as Nightwish, and then applying a massive variety of genre influences such as swing and flamenco, complete with a great juxtaposition between operatic female vocals and much more standard, albeit expressive male vocals, which adds even more character to the band. Despite the very distinct, quite unique sound they have, I also do find a lot of it to be extremely fun and accessible, with everything having a very pleasant, or at least palatable sound to it.

Balrog Boogie is a track that was exactly as I expected from this band, a really groovy bassline that then explodes into a fun, jazzy melody. I find the song to be a more operatic, slightly less energetic take on Devin Townsend's Bad Devil in many respects, and the influence is incredibly clear. Heroines is a much calmer song with a tango style, with a great build up as more metal elements are introduced, before they all fade away into a really nice cello solo. The next song, Poetic Pitbull Revolution, is my favourite on the album, with a really fun salsa style, with some incredibly entertaining trumpets and my favourite moment on the album, the guitar solo at around the minute mark. The song has a particular intensity to it that I just love, and it definitely separates itself from a lot of other songs due to having this, constantly dipping and rising in intensity. Rag Doll Physics marks another high point with by adding a layer of melancholy through the almost isolated feel of the chorus adding some more depth.

The album continues along the line of making all around enjoyable songs that try out their own styles, with particular mention going to Infralove, both for it's incredible transition and its slight electronic intro, which sounds marvellous, and Pink Noise Waltz for the extremely enjoyable guitar. One issue I do have is that I do find the second half of the album to become less interesting due to the somewhat similar sound a lot of the songs have, even if they go into wildly different styles. I feel like this has something to do with the extremely dramatic nature of everything, with the vocals being the clearest sign of it, making it grow somewhat tiring by the end, although it's not enough to have me dislike the album in any way.

Overall, this is a highly enjoyable, interesting album that shows a lot of potential, despite its mild shortcomings. I definitely appreciate how the variation of styles isn't just a gimmick, but the music complements it quite well. I found this album to overall be highly enjoyable and definitely feel compelled to check out their later albums to see what they end up doing with this, especially if they end up going into more territory explored on songs like Gunpowder Chant and Porcelain Judas, both of which have a particular exotic tinge to them that I'd love listening to more of.

Best songs: Balrog Boogie, Poetic Pitbull Revolution, Rag Doll Physics, Infralove

Weakest songs: Velvet Embracer

Verdict: Anyone who wants something fun and different to listen to, I'd recommend this to you, as nothing about it is particularly challenging, yet still offers a very compelling listen full of interesting concepts.

Edit: Despite how fun the album is, I really don't find much push to relisten to it that much. It's actually exactly what I expected from this kind of band, with a gothic sound with nice overtones of a lot of entertaining genres, but never really goes far and beyond to me.

 Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2009
4.04 | 215 ratings

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Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

5 stars After dropping their avant-garde fusion bomb in the form of the debut "The Butcher's Ballroom" onto an unsuspecting world in 2006 with their deliciously provocative fusion of swing jazz, heavy metal, classical opera and progressive rock, Sweden's zany DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA returned three years later to present the world with an equally mind-bending, genre-blending mishmash of musical madness in the form of SING ALONG SONGS FOR THE DAMNED AND DELIRIOUS. While a few lineup changes occurred in the three years passing with new trombonist Daniel Hedin joining the cast and trumpeter Martin Isaksson replacing Tobias Wiklund, the general gist of this sophomore release pretty much carries on exactly where "The Butcher's Ballroom" left off and continues the journey into the demented DSO universe.

While "The Butcher's Ballroom" put DSO on the map as experimental rock and avant-garde metal pioneers, SING ALONG SONGS FOR THE DAMNED AND DEMENTED is the album that got them larger worldwide recognition. Once again this whacky band delivers the goods in the swing department as they not only captured the jazz swing revival that was propelled by such acts as the Squirrel Nut Zippers and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies but they also scoured the planet to find other suitable types of swing genres such as that of European gypsy music and Balkan folk to add to their symbiotic stew of their metal fortified dancehall. Mix in some Middle Eastern, some tango and top it off with a heavy metal bombast of dual guitar heaviness and you have a recipe for true eccentricity delivered like no other. In fact, SING ALONG SONGS was nominated in 2011 for the Eclectic Album category in The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards.

While not exactly differentiating substantially from the debut's unabashedly brilliant delivery, nevertheless SING ALONG SONGS continues in perfect form with a whole new batch of ten exquisitely designed heavy stompers that swing, sing and bedazzle with a million tiny details tucked into the nooks and crannies. The whole festive affair is polished into a squeaky clean production with In Flames producer Roberto Laghi at the helm. In short DSO created their second brilliant masterpiece of mind-melting fusion in a seemingly effortless fashion that damns, dements and distracts the listener from mere ordinary musical experiences. If anything, SING ALONG SONGS perfects the techniques of the debut and adds new subtle elements to the mix which to the careful attentive listener will find a mind boggling amount of brilliance embedded in every aspect. Set mind status to fully blown!

"A Tap Dancer's Dilemma" starts things off sounding like a Satanically spawned version of the Glenn Miller Orchestra that was somehow abducted by evil forces and had their DNA cryogenically spliced and preserved only to find its way into a strange new millennium. The track really sounds like Glen Miller's "In The Mood" with its swinging characteristics but augmented by the metal riffing, Spaghetti western trombone and trumpet as well as the vocal dualistic antics of the operatic soprano prowess of Annlouice Wolgers and Daniel Håkansson's playful male vocal counterpoints. In fact the entirety of the album finds these two throwing the ball back and forth which gives a lively call and response conversational oomf to the process.

"A Rancid Romance" shows immediate diversity to the album's flow as it takes a tango groove on piano and bass and adds super heavy metal guitar riffing. Wolgers' and Håkansson create a lyrical dialogue and interesting variations between the verse / chorus and bridge construct as the melody recurs throughout but new elements piled up bringing the whole thing to an interesting chaotic crescendo where progressive touches kick in with time signature freakouts alongside tension inducing drones that ultimately end in a symphonic acoustic classical Paganini violin solo.

As the tracks continue they only get more interesting. "Lucy Fears The Morning Star" engages a Wagner-esque classical pomp, a heavy metal stomp and high C glass shattering vocal sublimeness from Wolgers. "Bedlam Sticks" has more of a cartoonish feel. Sorta like an Elvis Presley meets Dracula vocal style that cedes into a rather demented bouncy metal stomp. "New World Widows" finds a respite from the bombastic approach with a nice echoey clean guitar intro that cedes into another bouncy metal rocker with Wolger's diva vocals soaring like a white-winged dove. "Siberian Love Affairs" takes the Eastern Europe polka as a short interlude while "Vodka Inferno" continues another swinging metal stomp with some of the oom-pa-pa polka rhythms. "Memoirs Of A Roadkill" adopts a Django Reinhardt style of gypsy swing with exquisite guitar riffing but takes an unexpected Radiohead-esque alt rock turn. "Ricerca Dell'anima" implements a surf rock approach to adapt to the DSO way of doing things.

The album ends with the longest track "Stratosphere Serenade" that begins with a dynamic cello workout followed by some stellar metal guitar riffing. This is probably one of the more progressive tracks as it is a dialogue between the metal and classical elements with more varied time signatures than most tracks. Yet another track that sounds unlike the rest with many interesting movements within. The track climaxes with a lengthy fadeout of a recurring riff that speeds up. Quite the satisfying end of the demented journey. While being pegged as avant-garde metal, DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA should be considered to exist in their avant-garde world. The metal bombast is supplemental only to add a level of heaviness to the underlying swing jazz, gypsy folk, tango and classical elements.

This is experimental music in every possibly way and the ultimate statement of a 21st band that effortlessly amalgamates disparate 20th century genres. This is music nerd's paradise and pretty much designed for those who love the individual elements that went into it. Personally this is my sort of music and the dynamic catchy melodic hooks that SING ALONG SONGS FOR THE DAMNED AND DELIRIOUS means i get a lot of mileage out of this one. In fact, it's one of those albums that works on many levels. It is truly ear worm hook music that guarantees a pleasing melodic sing-along style experience while on a deeper level is super-sophisticated as it unleashes treasures upon multiple visiting experiences. While many avant-garde metal leaning bands have come and gone, none have so successfully pulled off what DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA achieved on their first two albums. As far as i'm concerned both are flawless examples of commingled creativity taken to the highest levels.

 Pacifisticuffs by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2017
4.14 | 158 ratings

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Pacifisticuffs
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by Evolver
Special Collaborator Crossover & JR/F/Canterbury Teams

5 stars One of the finest albums of 2017!!!

This album was my first encounter with Diablo Swing Orchestra and they made quite an impression on me. I have since gone back and listened to most of their albums (and am now about halfway through purchasing hard copies). I understand that many of this band's fans are upset about Annlouice Loegdlund leaving the group, in my opinion, Kristin Evegard is an improvement. Her lyrics are intense and exciting, and her voice is like Kate Bush with an intense amount of attitude, easily moving from kittenish seduction to venomous vixen and back in a blink of an eye.

Musically, DSO somehow manages to weave countless different musical styles together seamlessly. In "Knucklehugs", they go from a standard rock anthem into a rollicking bluegrass romp, with a cello taking the usual fiddle solo. "Superhero Jagganath" (another song where Evegard excels) blends Nordic metal with Hawaiian sounding passages (some sung in an Elvis-inspired twang). "Jigsaw Hustle" starts with a disco riff, but breaks out into crunchy prog-metal riffs. The only song that comes close to a traditional modern swing orchestra sound is "Karma Bonfire", and guess what, they are fantastic at this as well.

My only complaint, however slight, is that I can't understand many of the lyrics, as some of them are drowned out by the delightfully bombastic instrumentation.

I can't imagine anyone who won't be blown away by this album.

 Pacifisticuffs by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2017
4.14 | 158 ratings

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Pacifisticuffs
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by HarmonyDissonan

5 stars THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE ALBUMS THAT I'VE PICKED UP IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, EASILY!

And I've got a fairly substantial collection! So what is this album like? It would be too simple to describe it as Klezmer! That wouldn't do it justice! I would say it's got a Klezmer feel to a lot of the music within it, but there's so much more! I love the Brass, the keyboards and drums, the bass-the growling bass (my personal favorite portion of this many faceted album!) The male and female and 'grandpa' vocalists! The production value is outstanding! Although most of the music is very intricate, the quality production allows everything to be heard simultaneously. I also love the way the tempos are altered quite regularly within most of the individual tracks. It's a fun album! It's a very positive romp through a hodge-podge of stomping bliss! They intermingle seamlessly swing, jazz, classical and a touch of funk and some slight touches of down-home country bluegrass! Now if you're looking for something amazingly psychotic and to me truly inspired than look no farther, this is the album for you! It's mostly fairly hard driven, multi-personality laden music with a generous helping of brass! I love it, as well as the lyrics. Here's a taste from the opening song: Knucklehugs (Arm Yourselves With Love): ARM YOURSELVES BROTHERS AND SISTERS, ARM YOURSELVES WITH LOVE, STAND UP STRAIGHT, WALK TALL AND PROUD, TRANSCEND AND THEN RISE ABOVE. Personally I can't recommend this album enough, I just love it!

Take care and enjoy God's gift of music!

 Pacifisticuffs by DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA album cover Studio Album, 2017
4.14 | 158 ratings

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Pacifisticuffs
Diablo Swing Orchestra Progressive Metal

Review by kev rowland
Special Collaborator Prog Reviewer / Special Collaborator

5 stars There are times when just the name of the band is enough to make the casual critic to become quite intrigued, and that is definitely the case with this Swedish octet. Eight musicians? Yep, and it isn't the line-up that one might expect from a rock band: Daniel H'kansson (guitars and vocals, Pontus Mantefors (guitars, FX and vocals), Kristin Eveg'rd (vocals and piano), Anders Johansson (bass), Johannes Bergion (cello and vocals), Martin Isaksson (trumpet and vocals), Daniel Hedin (trombone) and Johan Norb'ck (drums). In many ways this doesn't come across as a band, but something far more eclectic, as if it was a group of musicians performing a score for a Tim Burton movie. As a family we watched 'The Nightmare before Christmas', and some of the songs on here (especially 'Superhero Jagganath') could have been dropped into it and would have fitted incredibly well!

Since the start back in 2003 the band has defused the seriousness of everyday life with a humorous twist where everything is allowed. The musical framework is wide to say the least and DSO strive to constantly surprise and challenge their listeners: it is eclectic and rule-breaking, but somehow always makes total musical sense. The arrangements and melodies are unusual to say the least, but this is not out about being 'out there' just for the hell of it. This is music that is both compelling and always interesting. Since 2012's 'Pandora's Pi'ata' the band have taken the opportunity to reinvent themselves and approach their task with fresh eyes and ears. Annlouice L'gdlund left the band in 2014 to pursue her opera career, but new singer Kristin Eveg'rd has brought some serious new writing skills to the mix, both in the lyric departments as well as composing. It is also the first studio album for Johan Norb'ck, who joined the fold in 2012 for the touring of Pandora's Pi'ata: not many drummers have to wait five years to make their recording debut with a band, but he really has started with a bang.

Although it is possibly to call these guys progressive metal, the first word of that term in their case covers a huge amount of genres from swing to prog, incorporating some RIO and plenty of avant combining with musical theatre and soundtracks. At the beginning of 'Jigsaw Puzzle' the strings are so delicate that they could have been used in a James Stewart movie, before it morphs into disco ELO, yet all in a way that just works. This is not a band who are content to sit within a genre, and treat music as it is a living free thinking animal that is going to go its own way in the jungle. There may be times when it will follow a path that has already been created, if it happens to be going in the same direction, but it never stays on it for very long as there is way more fun to be had in the wilderness.

It is seriously like nothing else I have heard in the last year, during which time I have reviewed more than 600 albums of different genres, and that is a statement in itself. Superb.

Thanks to The T for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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