19. Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Pinata
For the majority of the albums here, the surprise behind them aren't really all that surprising. A better way of putting that is, for example, if a thrash metal band makes a killer thrash metal album, great. If a prog band makes an awesome prog album, you get the picture. Genre classification works, for the most part. Pandora's Pinata is a huge outlier in that sense. I've heard it be called avant-garde, and while it certainly qualifies, it shares barely any characteristics of avant-garde other than the barrage of odd compositions. There's an insane amount of groove on this album, and there are progressive moments as well. Listening to the record from start to finish is the only way to really get an understanding of the newest release from Diablo Swing Orchestra. There's even an electronic drop of sorts on the closing track. I was blown away by how good this album was. Unique metal? Look no further.
8.5/10
"Mass Rapture" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm8m31wdLN8