Laibach are best known for their cover versions of pop songs which have been rerendered in such a way as to reveal formerly hidden or unnoticed messages, often commenting on political totalitarianism or rock stardom’s own forms of dictatorship. This was done most successfully on Opus Dei, especially on their cover of One Vision. Named Geburt Einer Nation after D. W. Griffith’s classic film The Birth of a Nation, Queen’s lyrics are sung in German to a strident military beat. All of a sudden lines like “one flesh, one blood, one true religion” start sounding suspiciously familiar...
However the bulk of Laibach’s output is their own work. Their own early experiments with totalitarian ambiguity led to their being outlawed in then-Communist Yugoslavia; their name was made illegal so the band resorted to using their black-cross emblem on posters instead. To this day their work deals with similar ideas but frequently Laibach reference their own legendary status and tongue-in-cheekily play with the kinds of in-jokes a band accrues in over 25 years of work.
Laibach’s musical style has varied a lot over the years. They began as avant-garde industrial musicians, producing what could best be described as ambient noise but soon discovered the joys of the martial rhythm. Having produced a couple of albums of heavy martial industrial music, they began to expand sonically. Following the collapse of Yugoslavia their difficult but rewarding album Kapital included hip-hop influences among many others and NATO borrowed from techno while keeping the bombastic atmosphere. The next offering Jesus Christ Superstars came after quite a hiatus and it may have shocked a lot of people with its balls-out metal guitar riffs. The 2003 album WAT returns to a more electronic sound; working with techno producer umek has produced a slightly odd album of electro beats.
Volk was released on October 20, 2006, preceded by the single Anglia. The album contains 14 songs composed and produced together with Silence, inspired by national anthems.
2008 Laibach released new album, titled Kunst der Fuge. This album is the laibachian interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach's work The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge). The majority of the material has been created already in 2006 and premierly performed the same year on June the 1st at Bachfest festival in Leipzig.
VOLKSWAGNER is the title of a musical project which was realized in collaboration between Laibach and the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra (2009). Laibach also cooperated with the composer and conductor Izidor Leitinger on this project, and it was decided that together they would compose a work which will in a specific manner interpret some of Wagner's better known musical motifs and combine them into a unified symphonic electronic suite.
From a formal point of view, the collaborating artists have decided to seek in Wagner the rudiments of modernism, which first through Mahler, Bruckner, and Debussy, and subsequently through Schöenberg, Berg, and Webern, developed into the core of the jazz music of the sonic experimentalists, such as Miles Davis and Sun Ra, and to upgrade them with the ambient electronic spectrum that has been developing over the last three decades. In addition, the suite will address the history of the 20th century – modernism crossbred with pop art.
4.4. 2012 a movie titeled Iron Sky was released. Laibach in collaboration with Ben Watkins as a co-writer and producer of the score provided soundtrack for Moon Nazi Invasion in Iron Sky.
Official Laibach website: www.laibach.org
Drzava
Laibach Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
posebno mladine, v svrho dviganja narodnega zdravja,
narodne, delovne in obrambne sposobnosti.
Ravna cedalje bolj popustljivo, dopusca se vsa svoboda.
Oblast je pri nas ljudska.
"Mi smo more krvi prolili za bratstvo I jedinstvo nasih naroda:
iznutra da se rusi to bratstvo I jedinstvo...."
The lyrics to Laibach's song Država are a powerful commentary on the concept of the state and its role in shaping the physical and mental health of its people. The opening lines declare that the state is responsible for the physical education of the populace, with a particular emphasis on the youth, in order to improve the health, productivity, and defense capabilities of the nation. However, as the song progresses, it becomes clear that the state is becoming increasingly permissive, allowing for greater individual freedom, even as it retains its authority over the people.
The final lines of the song add an interesting twist to its message, as they touch on the history of Yugoslavia and its struggles for unity and solidarity. The singer declares that they spilled blood for the brotherhood and unity of the nation, and they will not allow anyone to undermine that unity from within. This bitterness and suspicion towards outsiders reveal the complicated nature of national identity and the fragility of unity, even as the state seeks to promote it.
Overall, this song is a powerful declaration of the role of the state and the tensions that arise between promoting individual freedom and unity as a nation. Laibach's lyrics are straightforward and direct, but their message is layered and complex, inviting listeners to consider the nature of nationalism, identity, and power.
Line by Line Meaning
Drzava skrbi za fizicno vzgojo ljudstva,
The state is responsible for the physical education of the people,
posebno mladine, v svrho dviganja narodnega zdravja,
especially young people, with the aim of improving the nation's health,
narodne, delovne in obrambne sposobnosti.
national, work, and defense abilities.
Ravna cedalje bolj popustljivo, dopusca se vsa svoboda.
It behaves increasingly permissively, allowing complete freedom.
Oblast je pri nas ljudska.
Power belongs to the people here.
"Mi smo more krvi prolili za bratstvo I jedinstvo nasih naroda:
"We spilled a lot of blood for the brotherhood and unity of our nation:
e, necemo nikome dozvoliti da nam dira ili da nam ruje
we won't allow anyone to touch us or undermine us
iznutra da se rusi to bratstvo I jedinstvo...."
from within, to destroy that brotherhood and unity...."
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DEJAN KNEZ, JANI NOVAK, MILAN FRAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
upsidown13
The state is taking care of the protection,
cultivation and exploitation of the forests.
The state is taking care of the physical
education of the nation, especially of the
youth, with the aim of improving the nation's
health and national, working and defensive
capability.
Its treatment is becoming more and more
indulgent, all freedom is tolerated. Our
authority is that of the people.
"We decant a sea of bloodshed for brotherhood
and the equality of our nation and we are not
going to allow anyone to touch, to uproot from
inside or to destroy in any way this
brotherhood and equality..."
Josip Broz-TITO
OUR AUTHORITY IS THAT OF THE PEOPLE!
DeptIndAccts
I just recently discovered Laibach. This is amazing. And somehow oppressively terrifying.
Foxtrot Hotel
They're touring soon too. I'm going from Dublin to Berlin to see them in a few weeks.
DeptIndAccts
@Foxtrot Hotel wow. Awesome. Love your profile pic. It takes me back.
VoiceInTheWilderness85
Welcome. Delve deep. Their library is a treasure chest of auditory wonder.
Wolfgang Kranek
They were somewhat controversial in the 1980's.
Also because of the political tensions in Yugoslavia which lead to the break up and Slovenian independence.
Joel
Laibach really knows how to convey so much emotion through noise. I almost wouldn't call this music, but beautiful, artistic noise. It's just awesome.
Gonzo Dawg
Still awesome, and scary as hell, after all these years. The most original and exciting musical act on the planet.
bLedq
Igorrr - ieuD
Titan Dominik
instablaster.
Miha Turk
This was my alarm clock when I lived in the student dorms.