Artist: Diablo Swing Orchestra
Title: Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious
Type: Album
Label: Ascendance Records
It’s time for more fun and frolics from the Diablo Swing Orchestra. For those who don’t know the band or their 2007 album, “The Butcher’s Ballroom”, the Diablo Swing Orchestra are from Sweden and specialise in swing, tango and Latino-based sounds. Classic metal instruments are mixed with the double bass, trombone and violins, while a combination of clean and theatrical vocals accompany the female opera singer in completing the picture … almost. It’s not as bizarre as it perhaps sounds, but by no stretch of the imagination could it be described as normal.
From the opening drum roll it’s clear that normality has not been found on “Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious”, which follows a similar pattern to its predecessor. Indeed there’s been a shift in the direction of greater lunacy. “A Tapdancer’s Dilemma” sets us on our way with a moving, grooving swing number. It’s like a merger of Jungle Book, The Cure’s “Lovecats” and Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. The circus master shouts through his megaphone, the opera singer goes swing, there are 50s style backing singers, I go dum-dum-dum to the double bass. My wife started jitterbugging round the room. Yes, we’re all going mad. It flows and it’s fun. “A Rancid Romance” starts pompously as if we’re at a Spanish musical event, the metal guitar strikes in and it all turns to tango, heightened opera accompanies strident guitars, and it all ends in orchestral sadness. Therion never seemed so pedestrian. Do you remember “Whodunnit” by the Tavares? That’s how “Lucy Fears the Morning Star” begins. The pomp and ceremony give way to meaty and reggae-style guitar work, which leads into the pure tones of the opera singer, followed by the intervention of aliens from the Smash advert, or so it seems, then more operatics, more metal, great rhythm and the sound of the trumpet from a West Indian steel band. Phew. Clearly deciding that the range isn’t wide enough, “Bedlam Sticks” launches into a dialogue between a male sounding like a cross between Mr Chekhov and Bobby Boris Pickett, and a now evil-sounding opera singer. The rhythm as ever goes tat-a-tat-tat. It’s pure theatre as well as being a captivating swing track dominated by that customary movement, the sound of the double bass and a dialogue born from complete lunacy. “New World Widows” has the template lively and chunky rhythm which holds this all together. Meanwhile the opera singer takes us to the heights and enchants at the same time. It’s fairground time. “Siberian Love Affairs” features deep-voiced drunken men singing in chorus as the accordion sets the tone. Do we have the sound of the Big Top or the opera? “Vodka Inferno” asks the question but doesn’t answer it as the familiar swing rhythm cuts in, and the chorus sounds like there’s Cossack dancing going on. Again all the elements merge to generate a masterpiece of operatic swing metal insanity. The flamboyant classic jazz guitar then bedazzles us on “Memoirs of a Roadkill”. This is the first time on this album we’ve had the real voice of the male singer, and very nice it is too. The album was ready for another toe-tapping number and we get it. The track ends in a sad, acoustic mode, proving that nothing can be taken for granted here. Swing then meets the Shadows on “Ricerca dell’Anima”. The opera singer provides the purity, but above all it’s pure movement from the instrumental department. To cap off the grooving metal rhythm, there’s a wonderful clarinet solo. Finally we have “Stratosphere Serenade”, a moody and jerky track. The electric violin sets the mood. The drum taps out an African beat. The clean and operatic vocalists play with each other, as heavy strains develop. Then it seems to stop but the track is played out with a fast and funky technical guitar section.
There’s even more experimentation and changes of direction on this album than there was on “The Butcher’s Ballroom” and that’s saying something. What holds this together is the superb musicianship and the toe-tapping excitement, movement and fun. “Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious” is exhilarating. It’s like being in the theatre, in a concert hall and on the fairground at the same time. Enjoy the ride. I did.
http://www.myspace.com/diabloswingorchestra
http://www.ascendancerecords.com
Andrew Doherty
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