Laibach formed 40 years ago in the then-Yugoslavian industrial town of Trbovlje. Founded in the year that the country’s founding father Tito died, the band rose to fame as Yugoslavia steered itself towards self-destruction to become one of the most internationally acclaimed bands to have come out of the former Communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe. With roots in performance art, theatre and the avant-garde, the group have pushed musical boundaries and confronted controversy throughout their existence. The militaristic imagery, complex political parody and juddering industrial sounds may have elevated Laibach to some sort of iconic status in the alternative music world but their work ethic and commitment endures.
To mark their fourth decade of operation this year, the band have shared details of a significant vinyl and CD box set release. The deluxe box set presents three albums: a newly remastered edition of the debut, LAIBACH, with bonus tracks; REVISITED, new interpretations of songs from the debut and first half of the 80s, with two live tracks recorded with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra and UNDERGROUND, an unreleased live document of their 2012 concert recorded 200m below the surface of the earth, in the Velenje Coal Mines, Slovenia.
The 3x CD box set and 5x vinyl box both come in numbered, limited editions and feature an exclusive, numbered metal badge with the original Laibach symbol. Included with the release is the TERROR OF HISTORY, a 160-page book with 69 linocuts, an essay on Laibachwritten by Marcel Štefančič Jr. and additional text by the former President of Slovenia, Milan Kučan, as well as BOOKLET a catalogue with LAIBACH REVISITED project information and foreword by Igor Vidmar, who released the original debut on Škuc / R.o.p.o.t. The vinyl box also features a double poster with portraits of Laibach members and collaborators who have participated in this release or collaborated musically with the group.
The box set is released by the band’s own Retro-avant-garde Society, and available from: https://wtc.laibach.org/collections/laibach-revisited
The REVISITED album is now also available digitally via Mute: https://mute.ffm.to/laibach-rv
The 12-track album features recent interpretations of tracks from the first half of the 80s plus live recordings of two tracks that have featured in the band’s recent touring, ‘SMRT ZA SMRT’ and ‘TI, KI IZZIVAŠ’, recorded with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra respectively. Watch the video for a live version of ‘TI, KI IZZIVAŠ’, here:
Without doubt this is an impressive release to match the scale, audacity and ongoing relevance of Laibach, a band that can make you think, dance and march to the same music.
