Laibach

Formed in 1980 in Trbovlje, in present‑day Slovenia then part of Yugoslavia, Laibach developed at the crossroads of industrial, avant‑garde, electronic music, neoclassical dark wave and an immediately recognisable martial aesthetic. Associated from 1984 with the collective Neue Slowenische Kunst, Laibach early on constructed a visual and sonic language based on the subversion and reworking of the codes of power, nationalism and propaganda, which led to censorship and a ban on using their name in Yugoslavia during the 1980s. Around figures such as Milan Fras, Ivan Novak and originally Dejan Knez, Laibach moved from a raw, heavy, repetitive sound to more orchestral forms where mechanical percussion, low, resonant vocals, classical quotations and covers transformed into ambiguous anthems intersect. The albums Laibach (1985), Nova Akropola (1986) and especially Opus Dei (1987) established this approach, continued by Let It Be (1988), Kapital (1992), NATO (1994), Spectre (2014), Also Sprach Zarathustra (2017), The Sound of Music (2018) and Wir sind das Volk (2022). Laibach has also composed for theatre and film, undertaken numerous international tours and made a strong impression with concerts in Pyongyang in 2015 and in South Korea in 2017, confirming a trajectory in which the group blends music, performance and political commentary.