Review: Diablo Swing Orchestra-Sing Along Songs For The Damned And Delirious

Hey guys! For this post I will be fulfilling a request given to me by my friend Rick to review a Diablo Swing Orchestra album.  Out of the three I had to choose from I decided to go with 2009's Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious because A. he got it for Christmas, B. It was the first album from them that I listened to, and C. It's my blog and I can review any album I want no matter what year it came out.

Now when one first reads the name, "Diablo Swing Orchestra, one could venture to guess that these guys play some sort of swing music, or you could think that they have a name similar to the Tony Danza Tap Dance Experience, where maybe you go to a show thinking you're going to see Tony Danza tap dancing, but instead you get intense heavy metal.  Well if you were in the first boat you would be right, Diablo Swing Orchestra does in fact play swing music that you may find in your old timey dance hall, the only difference is, this isn't your grandmother's swing music.

Diablo Swing Orchestra is a octet from Sweden consisting of two guitars, bass, drums, cello, trombone, trumpet, and a lead vocalist (although one of the guitar players shares lead vocals with the female lead and almost all the other instrumentalists sing back up vocals).  With this unique instrumentation DSO plays a unique blend of jazz/swing music mixed with elements of heavy metal to create a soundtrack that would be played in a dance hall in hell.

The first song "A Tap Dancer's Dilemma" starts with a drum beat very similar to that of Benny Goodman's classic "Sing, Sing Sing" only instead of a huge brass band to back up the drums, the listener is greeted with the sound of crunchy guitars to accompany a soaring brass line (only created by two players).  From their the song launches into a musical frenzy that makes the listener immediately want to get up out their chair and start dancing.  The sound definitely has a decidedly big band swing feel to it, but it is created by a new era of big band, one that substitutes a huge brass band for twin ripping guitars.  When I hear this song, I can picture some bizarre dance floor somewhere, where this band is playing this song, and a whole myriad of creatures is swing dancing along to the crazy tune (if you've ever seen Finntroll's video for Under Bergets Rot, that's what I have playing in my head).

On the next tune "A Rancid Romance" DSO says "ok you liked swing so much in the first song, how about we go to tango?"  This may be my favorite song on this album.  The crunchy guitar chords in the intro make the listener want to start tangoing just as much as they want to jump up in the air.  Once the vocals kick in, you really get a sense for the crazy tango DSO has crafted as the male and female lead vocalists provide operatic vocals that sound like "Rancid Romance" was a reject song from the opera Carmen.  I mean who can't see Carmen and Don Jose sharing a duet on this song? I sure can.

From there the rest of Sing Along Songs... is a crazy journey through a variety of styles and tempos.  After one song ends the listener is brought to the edge of their seat to see where DSO will take them next.  Like Kontrust, DSO takes many genres of music and blends them so effortlessly into a unique package.  Some of the songs may take a little getting used to, but overall Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious is a non stop party, that once the listener arrives at they are immediately hooked and find themselves staying at the ball for a very long time.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Thanks guys!
-Zach

PS I highly recommend checking out their other two albums Pandora's Pinata and The Butcher's Ballroom.  They are just as crazy and just as fun as Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious.

Remember if there is an album you want me to review, leave a comment below or tweet me @zachktheanimal.