Album Review: Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata

Disclaimer: I like my music strange. I like an album that needs to be explained to someone (they mix what with what while doing what? What?). A few years ago I discovered the brilliance of Sweden's Diablo Swing Orchestra through their second album Sing Along Songs For The Damned And Delirious. As the name might imply, this septet plays a mixture of metal and swing/big-band music but also includes prog rock and opera. This means that guitar riffs battle with violins, horns, operatic female vocals, and more. The concept might sound confused (or even over-stuffed) but it is to the band's credit that they can keep it all together, coherent, and awesome. I was overjoyed to learn of the arrival of album number three, Pandora's Piñata, and it is another amazing document of some of metal's greatest pranksters doing what they do best.

Pandora's Piñata opens in style with flashy lead single “Voodoo Mon Amour” and it is an absolute party starter. I dare you to blast the track at top volume and not want to swing dance til you drop. If this is how they open albums I can hardly imagine what their concerts must be like. The album moves from strength to strength with every new song offering a new take on their bizarre musical style. Sometimes their metal elements are more heavily emphasized (“Exit Strategy Of A Wrecking Ball”) and sometimes opera and orchestra reign supreme (“Aurora”). Diablo Swing Orchestra are at their best when finding new ways for these unrelated concepts to interact, such as the carnival metal of “Guerilla Laments” or the nightmarish Muppets meets Nightwish mindfuck “Black Box Messiah”. More frightening still is “Honey Trap Aftermath” which flirts with (gasp) popular music.

Special mention has to be made of vocalists Annluice Loegdlund and Daniel Håkansson. The former brings an undeniable element of class to a metal record, even when she's pushing her voice a little too hard. The latter has a more traditional rock voice but it is still a sweet instrument and he hold his own in the long run (he really brings the heavy on “Exit Strategy Of A Wrecking Ball”). These two make every single track – with the exception of short instrumental “How To Organise A Lynch Mob” - hook-laden and catchy as hell. Seriously, every song leaps out at you and you find yourself wondering how one band can cover so much musical ground and actually do it well. Both Loegdlund and Håkansson combine their powers to deadly effect on the heart-stopping closing track, “Justice For Saint Mary”. Diablo Swing Orchestra are a band who defy explanation; words fail to capture their full magic and glory. So stop reading and listen to the damned album already!

Rating: A+

Recommended tracks: Voodoo Mon Amour, Black Box Messiah, Guerilla Laments ... fuck it, I recommend the whole album.