Diablo Swing Orchestra, also shortened DSO, is a Swedish

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, art metal and experimetal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde music, avant-garde elements, including non-stan ...

band formed in 2003. They are known for having an eclectic sound, which fuses

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

with

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, among other genres. They have released five albums: '' The Butcher's Ballroom'' (2006), '' Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious'' (2009), '' Pandora's Piñata'' (2012), '' Pacifisticuffs'' (2017), and '' Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole'' (2021).

History

Debut and ''The Butcher's Ballroom'' (2006–2009)

The band was created in 2003 as a

sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

. The original line-up consisted of singer Lisa Hansson, guitarists Daniel Håkansson and Pontus Mantefors, bass guitarist Anders "Andy" Johansson, cellist Johannes Bergion, and drummer Andreas Halvardsson. They released their first EP, '' Borderline Hymns'', in 2003; two years later, Hansson left the band, and was replaced by AnnLouice Lögdlund. With Lögdlund, the band released their first album, '' The Butcher's Ballroom'', in 2006. During recording, the band realized that some parts did not fit Lögdlund's voice; as such, Håkansson became the band's co-lead singer, with Mantefors also occasionally providing lead vocals. Through the band's official page on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

, they offered free downloads of a number of tracks from their debut album in promotion of ''The Butcher's Ballroom''. The tracks released on the page were "Heroines", "Balrog Boogie" and "Poetic Pitbull Revolutions" — the latter of which was added to the playlist months later. The full album is offered free on

Jamendo Jamendo is a Luxembourg-based music website and an open community of independent artists and music lovers. A subsidiary of Belgian company Llama Group, and Independent Management Entity (IME) since 2019. Originally, Jamendo was a music platform ...

as of August 2016. In July 2008 the band played at

Summer Breeze Open Air Summer Breeze Open Air is an annual German heavy metal music festival. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. The festival draws around 40,00 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and in October 2008 at Metal Female Voices Fest in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

''Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious'' (2009–2011)

In early spring 2009, the band announced that they were returning to the studio, and made a number of cryptic video blogs to document their efforts. On June 30, 2009, they announced that the cover art for the album would be made by Swedish illustrator Peter Bergting, noted for being the author of '' The Portent''. The track "A Tap Dancer's Dilemma" was made available through the band's Myspace page on July 7, 2009. They also announced that two Special Edition prints of the album would be available to pre-order along with the regular album. Both of the Special Edition copies came in an 8 panel digipak containing the CD, a 12-page booklet and a Bonus DVD. The Special Limited Edition was restricted to only 300 orders, and came with an additional pack of postcards, vinyl sticker, and a Dog Tag embossed with the band's logo and a number between 1–300, unique to the owner. '' Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious'' was released on September 21, 2009, and on October 2 the band played a special album-launch gig at The Purple Turtle club in Camden,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. On January 18, 2010, Diablo Swing Orchestra announced that their drummer, Andreas Halvardsson, had stepped down from his role due to "personal reasons" and would be replaced by Petter Karlsson, best known for his work with Swedish metal act Therion. Diablo Swing Orchestra expected pre-production of their third album to begin towards the end of 2010. On July 17, 2010, the band played at Circo Volador, Mexico City. On August 14, 2010, the band played at

Brutal Assault Brutal Assault is an Open-air concert, open-air extreme metal rock festival, festival that takes place in the 18th-century army fortress Josefov Fortress, Josefov, located in Jaroměř, Czechia. It is held each August early in the month from Wed ...

Open Air in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

with the new lineup. In January, 2011, ''Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious'' was nominated in the Eclectic Album category in The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. The song "A Tap Dancer's Dilemma" was also nominated for the Metal/Hardcore category.

''Pandora's Piñata'' (2011–2014)

On January 24, 2011, the band announced on

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that trumpeter Martin Isaksson and trombonist Daniel Hedin, who were both featured as guests on ''Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious'', had joined Diablo Swing Orchestra as full-time members. On October 9, 2011, the band revealed their third album title: '' Pandora's Piñata''. On March 29, 2012, the band announced on Facebook that Petter Karlsson was leaving the band; he was still featured on the upcoming album, as he had already recorded all his parts. The band publicly thanked him "for all the fun times together as well as for all the hard work he has put into the band". Karlsson stated "DSO is a band which foundation is made from a bunch of great guys, with great ideas, great enthusiasm and 100% motivation. I just feel that I can't mobilize that amount of greatness and enthusiasm, without having a bigger share of the artistic creation and in addition to limited financial gain. I just have too much other things going in my life right now. And I really want to continue working on my own projects. So therefore I leave the drum throne to someone who can put the right amount of energy into it. DSO deserve that". Johan Norbäck filled in as drummer for the rest of the ongoing tour, and eventually became a full-time member. On April 9, 2012, the band released the new album's first single, "Voodoo Mon Amour" through their Facebook page. ''Pandora's Piñata'' was released on May 14, 2012, in Europe, and May 22 in North America. It received rave reviews from music critics. On January 8, 2013, the band released the video from the song "Black Box Messiah".

''Pacifisticuffs'' (2014–2019)

On August 16, 2014, the band announced that AnnLouice Lögdlund was leaving Diablo Swing Orchestra as a mutual decision, as her opera career "exceedingly has taken up more and more of her time". They also announced Kristin Evegård as her replacement, and that she would be featured on their upcoming single, "Jigsaw Hustle", which was released later that year. They immediately started working on their next album, '' Pacifisticuffs'', which was recorded between July and October 2016, and set for a late 2016 release; it was eventually postponed for a year due to mixing issues, and was eventually released on December 8, 2017. It was preceded by two singles, "Knucklehugs" on November 3 and "The Age of Vulture Culture" on December 1, and included a re-recorded version of "Jigsaw Hustle". It received very positive reviews from critics, with particular praise going to Evegård's performance. After the release, the band resumed touring. On February 9, 2019, the band released a music video for the song "Superhero Jagganath" from ''Pacifisticuffs''.

''Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole'' (2019–present)

The band shared that they had started working on their fifth studio album on their

page on August 3, 2019, stating "12 songs in various stages of completion so far. Hoping to start recordings during the summer of 2020." On February 21, 2020, the band stated that recording for the new album would start on May 4 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. Two days later, they announced the album's title, '' Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole''. Recording for the album concluded on August 29, with the recording of the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

parts. It would consist of 13 tracks, including "¡Celebremos lo inevitable!", the band's first song in Spanish. Following

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

related setbacks, the band stated in April 2021 that mastering was the only part of the album left to complete, and that they were hoping for a release the same year. On June 15, 2021, the band announced that the first single from the album would be released in August and the second in October, with the album itself set for a November 2021 release. ''Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole'' was released on November 2, 2021, to critical acclaim.

Style and influences

Music

Diablo Swing Orchestra is known for its eclectic sound, mixing numerous influences, most prominently from heavy metal,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, swing, progressive, and classical, although various other influences are frequently mentioned by critics. The band's style encompasses

, classical,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, swing,

and

.Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom review
Metal Storm (December 12, 2006). Retrieved March 12, 2009. The line-up features several instrumentalists uncommon for rock or metal bands, such as a

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er, and a

trombonist The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

, while their albums often prominently feature

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and

brass section The brass section of the orchestra, concert band, and jazz ensemble consist of brass instruments, and is one of the main sections in all three ensembles. The British brass band, British-style brass band contains only brass and percussion instrume ...

Mythology

The origin of the name of the band is related on their website. The tongue-in-cheek

back-story A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's preparat ...

recounts a historically questionable ancestral story beginning in 16th-century Sweden. Supposedly,

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

of the band members performed orchestral works in defiance of the ruling church at the time (possibly in reference to the newly installed

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

national church, in power during the mid- and late 16th century). The

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

was forced to go into hiding, performing in secret, with the assistance of oppressed

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...

during the era. After years of performing for the pleasure of these peasants, the story claims that the church put a bounty on the performers' lives, and that this bounty was so high that the orchestra knew they would soon be captured, and thus chose to play a spectacular final show before becoming

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial ...

to the church.

Band members

;Current members * Daniel Håkansson –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(2003–present),

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

(2005–present) * Pontus Mantefors – guitar,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, FX (2003–present), vocals (2005–present) * Anders "Andy" Johansson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(2003–present) * Johannes Bergion –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(2003–present) * Martin Isaksson –

, backing vocals (2011–present; session member: 2009–2011) * Daniel Hedin –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

, backing vocals (2011–present; session member: 2009–2011) * Johan Norbäck –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, backing vocals (2012–present) * Kristin Evegård – lead vocals,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(2014–present) ;Former members * Lisa Hansson - lead vocals (2003–2005) * Andreas Halvardsson – drums (2003–2010) * AnnLouice Lögdlund – lead vocals (2005–2014) * Petter Karlsson – drums, percussion (2010–2012)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* '' The Butcher's Ballroom'' (2006) * '' Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious'' (2009) * '' Pandora's Piñata'' (2012) * '' Pacifisticuffs'' (2017) * '' Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole'' (2021)

EPs

* '' Borderline Hymns'' (2003)

Singles

* "Voodoo Mon Amour" (2012) * "Jigsaw Hustle" (2014) * "Knucklehugs" (2017) * "The Age of Vulture Culture" (2017) * "War Painted Valentine" (2021) * "Celebremos Lo Inevitable" (2021) * "Speed Dating An Arsonist" (2021)

References

External links

Official websiteInterview 2007
{{Authority control 2003 establishments in Sweden Avant-garde metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical octets Swedish jazz ensembles Swedish musical sextets Swedish progressive rock groups Swedish symphonic metal musical groups Swing revival ensembles