Diablo Swing Orchestra: Through The Avant-Garde Keyhole
There are bands that push the boundaries of music to its absolute limits, and then there’s DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA. Formed in 2003, the Swedish outfit started at a sextet, added a couple more members and entranced the alternative world by not so much ripping up the rulebook on heavy music as attaching it to a rocket and firing it into the sun with a blend of metal, swing, progressive and classical music. As vocalist Daniel Håkansson explains, though, their final sound has the same, humble beginnings.
“We want to challenge ourselves, of course, but it always starts out a lot less strange. I think we have the same traditional way of songwriting – getting things down initially with a guitar and melody, for example – and then we put a sonic costume on that song to make it a bit twisted in comparison to something more conventional. But at the heart, it’s just normal songwriting – we just ask ourselves ‘how do we present this melody in a way that’s interesting to play and interesting to the listener?’”
Of course, when you present so many elements into a particular album, coming up with new ways to surprise a fanbase and keep them on their toes can be a real challenge in itself. Daniel admits this, but also confirms that the process for fifth record Swagger & Stroll Down The Rabbit Hole was easier than previous efforts.
“I think it was harder with the third and fourth albums (2012’s Pandora’s Piñata and 2017’s Pacifisticuffs), because we changed personnel in that time and especially with Kristin [Evegård, vocalist/pianist] coming into the band, as I think we got a bit comfortable with the set up we had before the changes; I was also out of ideas for the third album, so we had to relearn and find our way again a bit with Pacifisticuffs. However, this time we were a lot more comfortable again and were able to thrown everything we had in there; more people got involved too.”
Said people were cellist Johannes Bergion and trumpeter Martin Isaksson, who contributed to the songwriting this time around; there’s also an astonishing seventeen guest musicians who play parts across the whole record. This might have something to do with the fact the mixing of the record took a full six months to complete, but Daniel offers a different explanation.
“We don’t have a writing blueprint on an album or an idea of what we want. When a metal band usually adds an orchestra, they have a different approach, which is putting the band in the forefront and the orchestra backing them up. But we don’t want that; we want everything to be on the same line, whether it’s band, orchestra or other, and that creates a problem as a result.”
It might be a constant headache, but DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA have got it right. Swagger & Stroll Down The Rabbit Hole is an hour of pure musical mayhem, an immersive journey that will have listeners bouncing from pillar to post right up until the very end; the grandiose nature of opening track Sightseeing In The Apocalypse going straight into the chaotic swing and chug of War Painted Valentine makes that abundantly clear. Then, there’s the upbeat jaunt of Jig of the Century, the LED ZEPPELIN-infused rocker Snake Oil Baptism and, as an added twist, the band’s first song to be sung in Spanish, Celebremos Lo Inevitable. When asked about how that came about, Daniel explains that it had been around for a while
“Parts of it had been floating around since the third album, but I wanted to make it sound more authentic and, when we found out Kristin speaks a bit of Spanish, we had Johannes rework it into a more Mexican, bolero style. We even got a Mexican vocal coach in so we could get the pronunciations right and, when we received feedback from natives, they agreed that we’d got it spot on!”
Although not a concept album, Swagger & Stroll Down The Rabbit Hole is certainly geared towards embracing where one is headed in life and dancing their way through all the dark times with a skip in their step; coupled with the dark yet cartoonish artwork, one could easily see this record soundtracking Tim Burton’s take on Alice In Wonderland (“I’m sure we’re going to get sued by Disney one day!” jokes Daniel). Impending lawsuit or not, though, DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA are a band for anyone who likes to add a healthy spoonful of avant-garde in with their riffs or even someone who wants to dive headfirst into an album that will have them second-guessing where things are going right up to the very end. The tour begins in the new year and, if the live show is as bonkers as the music, that promises to be one hell of an experience.
Swagger & Stroll Down The Rabbit Hole is out now via Candlelight Records/Spinefarm Records.
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