The new Swedish breeze

Although Sweden is renowned for its extreme groups, a new band with a whole new sound has risen: Diablo Swing Orchestra claims to play avant-garde swing metal. During Blikfest, Belgium, the six band members proved D:S:O to be an excellent live band. It won’t take long before the whole of Europe will close this new treasure in its heart.

The story of Diablo Swing Orchestra commences in the sixteenth century when Sweden was the home of an orchestra that played so masterly that it moved everyone to tears. Reaction of the church came quickly and the Swedish Church accused the orchestra of witchcraft and dark arts. The following witch-hunt caused the members of the orchestra to flee. When the hunted musicians finally gave in, they pledged solemnly that their offspring would revive the grandiose music. That’s how the story is supposed to go. "Well… how good is your knowledge of Swedish history?", guitar player and vocalist Daniel Håkansson tries me. "Not so good huh, well, then you can believe the whole story. It’s all completely true, only a little bit polished", the Swede wants to make me believe before he burst out in laughter.
Humour is a big and important factor for the Swedes, and not only during interviews. "Once we’re on stage, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Same for song titles, we prefer to have a light touch in them. How cool is it to have a song that’s called "Balrog Boogie"?"

D:S:O stands out amongst the melodical thrash bands that are traditionally associated with Sweden. It shows. "The reactions from our fellow-Swedes are a lot less enthusiastic than those from abroad. Yet we get good responses overall. We were afraid people would see us as copycats, even though our approach to music is very different from other bands. You never know though, because of the female opera vocals we could have been seen as a Nightwish or Within Temptation rip-off. Luckily the crowd sees through that, for them we’re something totally new. We handle things differently, different genres such as jazz, swing and folk find their way to D:S:O. Our musical backgrounds are so far apart and the styles often don’t come close to what Diablo Swing Orchestra sounds like. Personally I was raised with opera." Pontus grew up with metal and rock. "When I was five years old and still fitted my dad’s lap, he allowed me to hit the strings while he formed the chords. That’s how I played music (laughs)". Also the fans come from very diverse musical flows. Pontus remembers three punks in their home country. "Actually I missed the whole thing because I was way too lost in the music, but those punks took of their shirts for us. Quite amusing."

Devil of the opera

Diablo Swing Orchestra sees their music theatrical. Pontus explains: "The plan was to integrate a lot of theatre elements in ’The Butcher’s Ballroom’ so it would look like a complete theatre show. We wanted to create the feeling of an opera house. Due to the time limit, we had to cancel that and the only element that was left, were the two different acts on the album." Daniel goes on: "Unfortunately our budget doesn’t allow a big set up, but we would like a big stage with big curtains and again, that opera approach. Like it is now, our clothes are the only way to call up that opera house feel. We would like to keep our costumes timeless, but right they are supposed to remind of the Dark Ages, 15th century maybe? Oh well, pick an era (laughs)"

The recordings of ’The Butcher’s Ballroom’ taught D:S:O a lot of things that they will put into practise on their next album. "The production of ’The Butcher’s Ballroom’ is a normal straight forward metal production. Now we know a lot more, for example how to record a cello or the whole range of Annlouice’s vocals. Next time we’ll dive in the studio with all that knowledge, arrangements that are a lot more detailed and a decent preproduction. In short: the next album will be more complex, both in arrangements and production."
Pontus reassures: "It’s definitely not going to become harder to listen. We just want to make sure that you discover new elements all the time, even after the 50th time you heard the record. The basis isn’t completely the same, but the humoristic side has definitely stayed."The Swedes produce a very energetic live sound. "Like most bands, we sound a lot stronger live. Less polished. We would like to sound that way on record, but financially it’s still impossible."

Music is a big part in the life of Diablo Swing Orchestra, but apart from singer Annlouice, no one else can make a living out of it. "Being occupied with music is really a daily thing, while we’re trying to function as normally as possible. Writing music isn’t a process that you can turn on and off, it’s something that’s always running and you can’t shake it off. A new bridge or chorus can jump into your thoughts every time of the day. It would be great if the group turned out to be a paid hobby, but if you have a realistic view of the music industry, it probably can’t be done without a lot of sacrifices. In any case: to become rich isn’t our goal."(NT)