Laibach

Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde group formed in 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia. It is associated with industrial, martial industrial, experimental, electronic, EBM, neoclassical, and post-industrial music, and it remains active.

Background and formation

The group develops from Salto Mortale, a band formed by Dejan Knez in Trbovlje in 1978. Laibach formally starts on 1 June 1980. The date is chosen because it is the town’s official holiday, marking clashes in Trbovlje in 1924 between workers and the Organization of Yugoslav Nationalists. The name is suggested by Knez’s father, painter Janez Knez, and refers to the German name for Ljubljana. It also carries historical associations with Austrian rule and the Second World War occupation of Yugoslavia.

In its early period, the members do not publicly reveal their names. The initial line-up includes Dejan Knez, Tomaž Hostnik, Ivan “Jani” Novak, Andrej Lupinc, Srečko Bajda, Marko Košnik, and Marjan Benčina. The group later goes through many line-up changes. A best-known line-up includes Milan Fras on vocals, Dejan Knez on bass guitar, keyboards, and drums, Ervin Markošek on drums, keyboards, and electronics, and Ivan Novak handling stage effects. Other members and contributors associated with the group include Janez Gabrič, Luka Jamnik, Sašo Vollmaier, Damjan Bizilj, Tone Dimnik, Bine Zerko, Ivan Novak, Matej Mršnik, and Tomaž Hostnik.

Artistic approach and controversy

Laibach is the musical branch of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) art collective, which it co-founds in 1984 with the visual arts group IRWIN and the theatre groups Scipion Nasice Sisters and Rdeči Pilot. The collective later expands to include Novi kolektivizam, Graditelji, Retrovizija, and the Odeljenje za čisto in praktično filozofijo group.

The group attracts controversy from the start for using parody and pastiche of imagery linked to totalitarianism, nationalism, and militarism. These themes remain central to its work. Its early recordings are rooted in industrial music, with heavy rhythms and harsh vocals. In the mid-1980s, the sound broadens to include pop, classical music, and electronic experimentation. Lyrics appear in Slovene, German, and English, and are often delivered in Milan Fras’s deep bass voice. Early subjects focus on war and military themes, while later work addresses wider political and social issues through deliberately ambiguous messages. The group also becomes known for cover versions that turn lighter songs into darker, more dramatic arrangements.

Early performances use self-built electronic instruments, radio equipment, gramophones, and military smoke bombs instead of conventional stage effects. Visual material includes mining symbols, the Triglav mountain symbol, deer antlers, and the Malevich black cross surrounded by a gear. The first major project, Rdeči revirji (“Red District”), is cancelled after authorities object to the use of Kazimir Malevich’s black cross imagery. The first public performance and the exhibition Žrtve letalske nesreče (“Victims of an Air Accident”) take place in January 1982 at the FV club in Ljubljana, followed by performances in Zagreb and Belgrade.

At the Novi rock festival in Ljubljana in September 1982, Tomaž Hostnik performs in a military uniform and finishes the set after being struck by a bottle. In December 1982, he gives his final performance with the group at the YU Rock Moment festival in Zagreb during Dotik zla (“Touch of Evil”). He dies by suicide ten days later, and the group later symbolically expels him while continuing to reference him and dedicate works to his memory.

After renewed activity in 1983, Laibach presents Mi kujemo bodočnost (“We Forge the Future”) at the Zagreb Biennale, combining projections from the propaganda film Revolucija še traja (“The Revolution is Still Going On”) with pornographic imagery. Police intervene and remove the band from the stage. The group publishes its manifesto Akcija v imenu (“Action in the Name Of”) in Nova revija in 1983, quoting Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler on art and ideology. Later that year, an appearance on the television programme TV tednik in military-style uniforms and black-cross armbands leads to criticism and an official ban on the use of the name Laibach on recordings and live performances in Slovenia.

International activity and releases

In 1983, Laibach tours with Last Few Days and 23 Skidoo across Western Europe and Eastern Bloc countries as part of the Occupied Europe Tour, which raises its international profile. In 1984, members move to the United Kingdom, work various jobs, and appear as extras in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Through the Belgian label L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords, the group releases its first record, a 12-inch single with the Slovene-language songs “Boji” (“Fights”), “Sila” (“Force”), and “Brat moj” (“My Brother”). It also appears on the compilation World National Anthems with a version of the Yugoslav anthem “Hej, Sloveni”.

Laibach releases its debut studio album, Laibach, in 1985 on Ropot, with the cover showing only the black cross symbol because of the ban on the group’s name. That year WUS issues the compilation Rekapitulacija 1980–1984 and the live album Neu Konservatiw, taken from a performance at the Neu Konservatiw festival in Hamburg. The ban on the name is lifted in April 1985, after which the group performs legally under its own name in Slovenia.

In 1986, Laibach premieres Krst pod Triglavom (“Baptism Under Triglav”) with the Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre at Cankar Hall in Ljubljana and releases Nova Akropola on Cherry Red Records. After signing with Mute Records, it issues Opus Dei in 1987, including “Life Is Life”, based on Opus’s “Live Is Life”, and “Geburt einer Nation” (“Birth of a Nation”), based on Queen’s “One Vision”. The group continues to tour internationally in Europe and the United States.

Later releases include Let It Be in 1988, built mainly from Beatles covers; Sympathy for the Devil in 1990, with different interpretations of the Rolling Stones song; Kapital in 1992, which examines materialism and contemporary society; NATO in 1994, addressing political developments in Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavia, and NATO intervention; and Jesus Christ Superstars in 1996, based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera. In 1997, the group performs with the Slovenian Symphony Orchestra and the Tone Tomšič Choir in Ljubljana, presenting orchestral arrangements of early material.

Later work

WAT appears in 2003; its title stands for “We Are Time”, and it includes “Tanz mit Laibach” (“Dance with Laibach”). Founding member Dejan Knez leaves the group that year. In 2004, Laibach releases the compilation Anthems and two DVDs, Laibach and 2.

Volk appears in 2006 and features interpretations of national anthems, including “Das Lied der Deutschen”. In 2008, the group releases Laibachkunstderfuge, its interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Art of Fugue. In 2012, it composes music for the science fiction comedy film Iron Sky, releasing the soundtrack as Iron Sky, and also issues the live album Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde from a performance at Tate Modern in London.

Spectre follows in 2014 and deals with political activism and contemporary social issues. In 2015, the group performs in Pyongyang, North Korea, and the performances are documented in the film Liberation Day released in 2016. It performs in South Korea in 2017 and releases Also Sprach Zarathustra the same year, originally written for a theatre production based on Friedrich Nietzsche’s novel. In 2018, The Sound of Music appears with versions of songs from the film of the same title.

In 2020, Laibach releases the box set Revisited, containing reworked early material, live recordings, and archival recordings. The 2021 live album We Forge the Future – Live at Reina Sofia documents a performance dedicated to the group’s 1983 Zagreb Biennale appearance. In 2022, Wir sind das Volk (ein Musical aus Deutschland) appears, based on a theatre production using texts by Heiner Müller, and the symphonic work Alamut, based on Vladimir Bartol’s 1938 novel, premieres. In 2023, the album Sketches from the Red District and the EP Love Is Still Alive are released, the latter featuring music written for Iron Sky: The Coming Race. In 2024, the group releases several singles, including versions of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”, “White Christmas” recorded with Silence, and a Slovene-language version of Bijelo Dugme’s “Top” titled “S topom te bom ciljal moja mala” (“I Will Shoot You With a Cannon, Baby”).

Laibach later issues the single “Yom Kippur”, featuring the Palestinian Children’s Choir.