''Pacifisticuffs'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish

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

band

Diablo Swing Orchestra Diablo Swing Orchestra, also shortened DSO, is a Swedish avant-garde metal band formed in 2003. They are known for having an eclectic sound, which fuses swing music with symphonic metal and progressive rock, among other genres. They have release ...

. It was released on December 8, 2017. It is the first album with singer Kristin Evegård and drummer Johan Norbäck. Recorded between July and October 2016, the album was originally set for a late 2016 release, before mixing issues led to significant delays. It features a reworked version of their 2014 non-album single "Jigsaw Hustle", as well as two new singles, "Knucklehugs" released on November 3, and "The Age of Vulture Culture" released on December 1. In the tradition of the band, ''Pacifisticuffs'' blends various genres such as 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 Wales ...

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

, and classical; influences such as

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, bluegrass, schlager,

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, tango, and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

were also noted, as was the transition to the more

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

-like vocals of Evegård from the operatic style of former singer AnnLouice Lögdlund. The album received very positive reviews from music critics.

Production and recording

The band announced that they started working on their next album on August 16, 2014, at the same time they announced Evegård as their new female singer. Recordings started with producer Roberto Laghi at Gothenburg based Top Floor Studios (together with the studio's engineer Jakob Herrmann) with drums on July 16, 2016, which were done by July 24. Recording of guitars and bass guitar started on August 3, with bass done by September 4. The recording of

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin a ...

s started on September 18,

strings 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 ...

on September 19, a five-person

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

on September 24, and

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on September 27. Recording of lead vocals started on September 29, and ended on October 9, concluding the main recordings. Mixing was supposed to be done by late October 2016, but technical difficulties led to a delaying of the album's release; the band finally announced completion of mixing and the beginning of the mastering process on January 14, 2017.

Release and promotion

On February 10, 2017, they revealed the title, adding "Say it a hundred times before bed and wake up an even better person." The tracklist was revealed on March 25, and the cover art on April 22. After an originally announced release date of October 2017, the band announced on October 14, 2017, the final release date of December 8. They also announced that two new singles will be released before the album: "Knucklehugs" on November 3 (titled "Knucklehugs (Arm Yourself with Love)" in the album), and "The Age of Vulture Culture" on December 1.

Art and cover

The cover of the album was made by Sebastian Kowoll. Band member Anders Johansson was in charge of the

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

of the

booklet Booklet may refer to: * A small book or group of pages * A pamphlet * A type of tablet computer * Postage stamp booklet, made up of one or more small panes of postage stamps in a cardboard cover * Liner notes, writings found in booklets which come ...

. According to the band, one of the main visual themes of the album is "gnarly geometry".

Critical reception

The album received very positive reviews from music critics, with most praise going to its blend of different genres, uniqueness, and musical performances, particularly from newcomer Kristin Evegård and the brass section. In a highly positive review, ''Lords of Metal'' called ''Pacifisticuffs'' "a record that’s catchier than anything this band has ever done", and called it "the prog record of the year". ''Antichrist Magazine'' gave a very positive review as well, highly praising Evegård and the album's mix of genres. ''It Djents'' gave the album a rating of 9 out of 10, applauding its songwriting, diversity stating "if you appreciate challenging listens that are made more accessible by the blending of several different genres, masterful writing, impassioned performers, and a lot of heart, you need to hear this". ''Dangerdog.com'' gave the album a rating of 4 out of 5, stating "Diablo Swing Orchestra has peaked in creativity and performance. So much so that, they've become predictable by example, a genre unto themselves that has gone as far as it can go. Nevertheless, if you dig Diablo Swing Orchestra, you will be completely satisfied with ''Pacifisticuffs''". ''Heavy Blog is Heavy'' reviewer Karlo Doroc gave high praise to the mixing,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, songwriting, and instrumental performances. He also raised Evegård, stating "whilst her voice can come across as whiny and somewhat annoying at first, it proves to be an acquired taste and one which is much more suited to the myriad of other styles found on the album. Indeed, the longer the record progresses the more she seems in her element, at home amongst the frenzied madness swirling around her". ''Angry Metal Guy'' called the album "witty, fun and well-written", feeling that the band "always manages to merge between styles with alacrity, demonstrating excellent musicianship and compositional flare". However, he criticized the mixing and mastering of the album, calling it "claustrophobically brickwalled". Despite being displeased with the lack of "spirit of metal" in the album, ''Crom Magazine'' gave a positive review, stating "this is not a release for the pure metalhead, it dares way too much and offers far too little metal. ''Pacifisticuffs'' is a feast for the ears for those who love energetic music that continually pushes boundaries."

Commercial performance

On December 12, 2017, the album was ranked 72nd on

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

's bestselling list for digital music.

Track listing

¹In order of appearance.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

. ;Diablo Swing Orchestra * Kristin Evegård –

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 t ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Daniel Håkansson Diablo Swing Orchestra, also shortened DSO, is a Swedish avant-garde metal band formed in 2003. They are known for having an eclectic sound, which fuses swing music with symphonic metal and progressive rock, among other genres. They have rele ...

– lead vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s * Pontus Mantefors – guitars,

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

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, vocals¹ * Anders Johansson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

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 use ...

Johannes Bergion Johannes Bergion is a Swedish cellist, songwriter and backing vocalist, most known for being one of the founding members of avant-garde metal band Diablo Swing Orchestra. He also played cello in various Hellsongs albums, and in the In Flames al ...

–

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

, backing vocals * Martin Isaksson –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, piano, backing vocals * Daniel Hedin –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, 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 vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

, backing vocals * Johan Norbäck –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, backing vocals ;Production * Roberto Laghi –

, mixing,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Dragan Tanaskovic – mastering * Pontus Mantefors – co-production, co-engineering * Jakob Herrmann – engineering assistance (Top Floor Studio) * Sebastian Kowoll – cover illustration * Anders Johansson –

;Additional musicians * Diana Lewtak -

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Yuki Tashiro - violin * Max Wulfson - violin * Nathalie Bertilsson -

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

* Viktor Turegård -

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

* Paloma Pinto Viloria -

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

* Kristian Karlstedt - tuba * Michael Osbeck - percussion * Alexander Lövmark - backing vocals * Ellinor Bergion - backing vocals * Lotta Wilk - backing vocals ¹As a singer, Mantefors is only credited for backing vocals; however, he performs male lead vocals parts on several songs, albeit less prominently than Håkansson.

References

{{Authority control Diablo Swing Orchestra albums 2017 albums