Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora’s Piñata
CD Info
2012
Candlelight Records / Sensory
11 Tracks
English Lyrics
Seven or so years ago, the Swedish avant-garde band Diablo Swing Orchestra brought us a unique combination of swing, metal, opera, and all sorts of other sounds, and in their first two albums they explored the realms of jazz, swing, tango, flamenco, industrial, opera, and I don’t even know what else, all while still remaining their same old quirky selves. That doesn’t change at all on their third release, Pandora’s Piñata. From swing to samba to downright dubstep, DSO explore new heights, sights, and sounds while still remaining true to themselves with an album that is not only their best effort to date but sure to be the release of the year!
The album starts off the same way DSO start all their albums: with a swingy opener that just makes you want to learn to dance the Charleston. "Voodoo Mon Amour" is the first song that the band unveiled to the world and is not only the perfect introduction to this album, but a great first song to show your friends unfamiliar with the band. It’s quirky, it’s swingy, it’s fun, yet still retains that dark 20’s nightclub kind of vibe. But it only gets better from there! From the samba-esque "Guerilla Laments" to the funky "Honey Trap Aftermath" and the psychedelic "Mass Rapture," DSO shows they’re not afraid to experiment. It gets downright weird at times, too, but in the best way possible. "Black Box Messiah" sounds like a K-Pop band dancing on the roof a limo riding through Las Vegas, "Aurora" is a beautiful aria straight out of an opera (albeit a rather bizarre one), and there are songs like "Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball" that you just have to listen to because they can’t be described. "Justice of Saint Mary" starts innocently enough as a mostly acoustic song, but as soon as you think it’s winding down, it turns around, smacks you in the face, and somehow devolves into what I can only describe as dubstep. It’s marvelous.
The vocals, as on previous albums, are carried out by Annlouice Loegdlund and Daniel Håkansson. Annlouice sounds as lovely as ever, especially when she goes full-on operatic in "Aurora" and "Of Kali Ma Calibre," and Daniel experiments even further with his already multi-faceted voice, even attempting a scream on "Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball." DSO also benefits from a number of new members. Daniel Hedin and Martin Isaksson, on the trombone and trumpet respectively, help add to DSO’s versatility in their own ways, while Petter Karlsson (of Therion fame, but who has since left DSO) is just downright impressive on the drums. The other members continue to sound remarkable, and the band even employed what sounds like a mini orchestra to add yet another layer to DSO’s sound. All I can say is that the talent of this band is simply astounding.
You would think after two albums, a quirky, avant-garde band like DSO would run out of ideas, but that’s obviously not so. In three albums, the band somehow managed to never repeat themselves, not even once. Pandora’s Piñata is easily one of the most original records I’ve ever heard, and "genre-bending" doesn’t even begin to describe the songs on this release. Yet they still manage to sound like DSO and retain their own unique style. I really hope the band can keep this up for years and albums to come, and I eagerly look forward to their next album.
But seriously, how do they come up with this stuff?
Standout tracks: All of them. Period.
9.5 / 10
