- Melbourne’s Barons Of Tang have come a long way from the joke band they formed as, however long it was ago (it seems like a long time, at least seven years I’m sure). Combining elements of Balkan, Klezmer, jazz, punk, ska, cabaret, latin and many other influences from around the world, if it’s possible to tighten up these sort of sounds - tightening up Balkan music is like practising punk: at least to some degree, it’s missing the point - the band have worked what they do to the point of flinty sharpness. They’ve taken this mad fusion across the globe, including a twenty-plus date tour in the US last year as well as playing Iceland’s Roskilde festival and having toured Australia often enough (they’re favourites of many festivals) to have, reputedly, given individual names to the sheep on the Hume Highway. To steal their punchline, they’re all called Kevin.

After a couple of EPs, Into The Mouths Of Hungry Giants represents the band’s first foray into album-length territory. It opens with the deranged, office-worker’s nightmare of Three Piece Lawsuit, shrieking in a broad Aussie accent, something mad about being forced to pay fares on public transport, how dare they! It slaps Balkan jazz against those rhythms which Balkan music shares to such nutty effect with ska. It ties the slightly punky guitar and shrieky vocals in nicely, for a perfect little crossover. This whole thing is crossover, in one sense or another, I’m sure; some tracks seem less so, however. Take the following number, Pocket Full Of Sand, playing out slow arabesques on the clarinet before swaying its hips straight into some very middle eastern sounds indeed, perfect for belly dancing. It’s the lack of vocals I guess, most of all. It makes everything seem less like Gogol Bordello or Australian ‘cabaret death metallers’ Darth Vegas whom the Barons must have seen more than a few times before deciding to get together, and more like, say, fellow festival faves Doch!, and their Eastern Euro influences, like Goran Bregovic.

Not that any of it matters. Whatever The Barons Of Tang decide to do, they do it thoroughly convincingly, laying it down on disc like it was no thang (something Darth Vegas, for instance, never to my knowledge really managed). All credit to the band and their producers Matt Voigt and Steve Smart, this is a great bit of recording which retains every bit of the live energy that is all important to this kind of music.

If I were to have a criticism (and it’s hardly fair), it would be that The Tang get about calling themselves gypsy deathcore, or used to - it’s hard to dump long-term tags. What about actual gypsy(-ish) heavies (like Korpiklaani or Arkona): it comes a little too close to seeming like The Barons don't know who they are, which could seem ignorant and provincial. I'm sure they do know who they are, though; like I said, the silly things we say when starting out have a nasty habit of sticking around.

I’d say The Barons Of Tang go from strength to strength, but they’ve maintained one consistently high level of presentation for some time now, Into The Mouths Of Hungry Giants simply confirms it.

- Chris Cobcroft.