View source for Laibach

{{short description|Slovenian music group}}
{{hatnote group
|{{Hatnote|''Laibach'' is the traditional German name for [[Ljubljana]].}}{{other uses}}
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image           = LAIBACH Press Photo 2011.jpg
| caption         = Laibach in 2011
| landscape       = yes
| background      = group_or_band
| origin          = [[Trbovlje]], Slovenia
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Industrial music|Industrial]]|[[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]]|[[Experimental music|experimental]]|[[martial industrial]]||[[Dark wave#Neoclassical dark wave|neoclassical dark wave]]|[[Electronic music|electronic]]|[[electro-industrial]]}}
| years_active    = 1980–present
| label           = {{hlist|[[Staalplaat]]|V2_Archief|Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien|Side Effects|[[Cherry Red Records|Cherry Red]]|[[Mute Records|Mute]]|[[The Grey Area of Mute Records discography|The Grey Area]]|[[Dallas Records|Dallas]]|Abbey Road Live Here Now}}
| current_members = See the [[Laibach#Members|members]] section
| past_members    = 
| associated_acts = [[Dejan Knez]]
| website         = {{URL|laibach.org}}
}}
'''Laibach''' ({{IPA|de|ˈlaɪbax|-|de-Laibach.ogg}}) is a [[Slovenia]]n [[avant-garde music]] group associated with the [[industrial music|industrial]], [[Martial industrial|martial]], and [[Dark wave#Neoclassical dark wave|neoclassical]] genres. Formed in 1980 in the [[Mining community|mining town]] of [[Trbovlje]], Slovenia (at the time the [[SR Slovenia]] within [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]), Laibach represents the musical wing of the [[Neue Slowenische Kunst]] (NSK) [[artist collective]], a group which Laibach co-founded in 1984.

From the early days, the band was subject to controversies and bans due to their use of iconography with parodies and [[pastiche]]s of elements from [[totalitarianism]], [[nationalism]] and [[militarism]], a concept they have preserved throughout their career. Censored in Yugoslavia, receiving a [[dissident]] status and a [[cult following]] in their home country, the band embarked on international tours and gradually acquired international fame, which led to wider acceptance by Yugoslav public and to attention of the country's mainstream media. After Slovenia became independent in 1991, Laibach's status in the country has turned from rejection by a part of the public to promotion into a national cultural icon.

Early Laibach albums were industrial-oriented, marked by heavy rhythms and roaring vocals. Later in the mid-1980s, their sound became more richly layered, featuring samples from [[Pop music|pop]] and [[classical music]]. The band's lyrics, variously written in Slovene, German and English, are usually delivered by the deep [[Bass (voice type)|bass]] vocals of lead vocalist Milan Fras. Initially the lyrics handled war and military themes; later, the focus turned to any highly charged political issue of the moment, sending intentionally ambiguous messages. They recorded a number of cover versions of popular songs, often turning light melodies into sinister-sounding [[Gothic rock|gothic]] tunes.

The band has seen numerous line-up changes, with Milan Fras (lead vocals), [[Dejan Knez]] (bass guitar, keyboards, drums), Ervin Markošek (drums, keyboards, electronics) and Ivan "Jani" Novak (stage effects) forming the best-known line-up. They have worked with a number of collaborators and guest musicians. During their career, Laibach have also recorded film and theatre music and produced works of visual arts, while the band members have embarked on a number of side projects.

== History ==
=== The beginnings: Laibach with Tomaž Hostnik (1980–1982) ===
Laibach evolved from the band Salto Mortale, formed by [[Dejan Knez]] in 1978 in the [[mining industry]] town of [[Trbovlje]].<ref name="Janjatović169">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=169}}</ref> Laibach was officially formed on 1 June 1980.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The members chose 1 June as the official date of the band's formation as it was Trbovlje's official holiday,<ref name="Janjatović169"/> marking the 1924 violent clashes between Trbovlje workers and the [[Organization of Yugoslav Nationalists]].<ref name="megla216">{{cite book|last=Megla|first=Maja|title=Leksikon YU mitologije|year=2015|publisher=Rende – Postscriptum|location=Belgrade – Zagreb|page=216}}</ref> The name ''Laibach'', adopted after a suggestion from Knez's father, well-known painter Janez Knez,<ref name="Janjatović169"/> is the [[Austrian German]] name of the [[Slovenia]]n capital [[Ljubljana]], a name used during the period when [[Slovenia]] was a part of the [[Austrian Empire]], as well as during the [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|World War II occupation of Yugoslavia]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/> Initially, the members of the band did not reveal their names, but during its initial phases, the band consisted of Dejan Knez (bass guitar, keyboards, drums, [[megaphone]]), Tomaž Hostnik (vocals), Ivan "Jani" Novak (stage effects, credited as "[[Engineers of the human soul|engineer of the human soul]]"), Andrej Lupinc (bass guitar), Srećko Bajda (synthesizer), Marko Košnik (synthesizer) and Marjan Benčina (synthesizer).<ref name="Janjatović169"/> In later interviews, the members stated that the band formation was sparked off by the suicide of [[Joy Division]] vocalist [[Ian Curtis]], the death of Yugoslav president [[Josip Broz Tito]] and the beginning of the dissolution of Yugoslavia.<ref name="Janjatović169"/>

Since its formation, Laibach had been preparing a [[Multimedia art|multimedia]] project ''Rdeči revirji'' (''Red District''), a piece intended to challenge and provoke the political authorities in Trbovlje.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The project was scheduled to be presented in the Workers' Hall in Trbovlje.<ref name="megla216"/> However, the group's use of [[Kazimir Malevich]]'s black crosses on their posters was determined by the authorities to be "improper and irresponsible", leading to considerable negative reaction in the media and the cancellation of the performance of ''Red District''.<ref name="Janjatović169"/>

[[File:Laibach-logo.svg|thumb|right|Laibach logo]]
The band's first live appearance and an exhibition entitled ''Žrtve letalske nesreče'' (''Victims of an Air Accident'') took place in January 1982 at the [[Ljubljana]] club FV.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> It was followed by performances in [[Zagreb]], in Lapidarij club, and in [[Belgrade]], in [[Studentski kulturni centar (Belgrade)|Students' Cultural Center]]'s [[foyer]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/> For their live performances they used [[Phonograph|gramophones]], radio devices and electronic instruments that they had built themselves,<ref name="Janjatović169"/> and the group's musical style was characterized by the Yugoslav music press as [[industrial rock]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/> Instead of [[dry ice]] as a source of [[Theatrical smoke and fog|theatrical smoke]], the group used original military [[smoke bomb]]s, which was as unpleasant for themselves as for the audience.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> At a concert in Belgrade, the smoke forced part of the audience to escape through the venue's windows.<ref name="megla216"/> In Zagreb, the use of smoke bombs on stage caused a search of the band's equipment conducted by the [[Yugoslav People's Army]]. The band stated that they used smoke bombs because they were "dealing with military subjects", which satisfied the officers in charge of the search.<ref name="megla216"/> At this early stage of their career, Laibach's visuals employed mining iconography; eventually, the group would add such symbols as [[Triglav]], deer horns and the Malevich's black cross encircled with a [[gear]] to their imagery.<ref name="Janjatović169"/>

At the time of their concerts in Ljubljana, Belgrade and Zagreb, the name Laibach and the posters with black crosses caused controversy, with some seeing this as a direct reference to the occupation of the country in [[World War II]].<ref name="megla216"/> The newspaper ''[[Delo (newspaper)|Delo]]'' published a [[Letter to the editor|reader's letter]] which stated: "Is it possible that someone has allowed in Ljubljana, the first [[Hero Cities of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav city to be awarded the Order of the People's Hero]], some youth group to carry a name which forcibly tries to revoke the name Laibach?".<ref name="megla216"/> The band used this question as the opening for their performance on the Novi rock (''New Rock'') festival in Ljubljana,<ref name="megla216"/> held on 10 September 1982.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> For their performance at the festival, frontman Tomaž Hostnik wore a military uniform, and despite being hit in the face by a bottle, causing him serious injuries, managed to bring the performance to an end.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> A part of the Yugoslav music press described the concert as the "symbolic end of [[punk rock]]".<ref name="megla216"/>

On 11 December 1982, at the YU Rock Moment festival in Zagreb, the band held the performance entitled ''Dotik zla'' (''Touch of Evil'').<ref name="Janjatović169"/> It was Hostnik's last performance with Laibach.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> Ten days later, he committed a [[ritual suicide]] by hanging himself from a [[hayrack]]—one of the Slovenian national symbols—near his hometown of [[Medvode]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/> Laibach disapproved of his act of suicide and posthumously "expelled" Hostnik from the group.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33530538 |title=North Korea allows 'first foreign band to perform' |access-date=15 July 2015 |work=BBC News |date=14 July 2015 |archive-date=15 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715222123/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33530538 |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite this, the group would in the future often refer to him and dedicate various projects to him, including an installation entitled ''Apologia Laibach'', created around Hostnik's self-portrait.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laibach.org/tomaz-hostnik/|title=Tomaž Hostnik 08. 11. 1961 – 21. 12. 1982|website=Laibach.org|access-date=12 August 2015|archive-date=2 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150802042338/http://www.laibach.org/tomaz-hostnik/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Dissident status in Yugoslavia (1983–1985) ===
[[File:LAIBACH Press Photo 1983.jpg|thumb|left|Laibach in 1983]]
The group resumed its activities at the beginning of 1983, when they held an exhibition in the Prošireni mediji (''Expanded Media'') gallery in Zagreb.<ref name="megla216"/> After a number of complaints, the management of the gallery attempted to persuade members of Laibach to remove part of the pieces, which they refused, and only four days after the opening, the management decided to close the exhibition.<ref name="megla216"/> The band continued their concert activities with the vocalist Milan Fras.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The group held a concert in Ljubljana's Freedom Hall, featuring guest performances by the [[England|English]] bands Last Few Days and [[23 Skidoo (band)|23 Skidoo]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla216"/> The 30-minutes long recording of dogs barking and snarling were used as the concert intro.<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla216"/> The day after the performance, the group received considerable media coverage for a concert at the Zagreb Biennale entitled ''Mi kujemo bodočnost'' (''We Forge the Future''), during which the group used simultaneous projections of the [[propaganda film]] ''Revolucija še traja'' (''The Revolution is Still Going On'') and a [[pornographic film]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/> After the simultaneous appearance of late [[Josip Broz Tito]] and a penis on the screens, the performance was interrupted by the police, and the members of the band were forcibly removed from the stage.<ref name="Janjatović169"/>

Following the performance at the Zagreb Biennale, the band published their "[[manifesto]]", entitled "Akcija v imenu" ("Action in the Name Of"), in the ''[[Nova revija (magazine)|Nova revija]]'' literary magazine, largely thanks to [[Taras Kermauner]], a philosopher, literary historian and one of the magazine editors.<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla218">{{cite book|last=Megla|first=Maja|title=Leksikon YU mitologije|year=2015|publisher=Rende – Postscriptum|location=Belgrade – Zagreb|page=218}}</ref> In the "manifesto" the band quoted [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] ("[[Engineers of the human soul|Artists are engineers of the human soul]]") and [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] ("Art is sublime, leading to fanaticism").<ref name="megla218"/> The subsequent debut television appearance on 23 June 1983, in the informative-political program ''TV tednik'' (''TV Weekly''), caused major negative reactions by the public.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The members of the band appeared in the program sitting motionlessly, wearing army uniforms and [[armband]]s with black crosses.<ref name="megla218"/> The host of ''TV tednik'' Jure Pengov stated: "Maybe now someone will react and ban, exterminate this danger, these horrible ideas and beliefs".<ref name="megla218"/> After Laibach's appearance in ''TV tednik'', they were officially banned from using the name Laibach on their records and live appearances, the decision even being printed in the Official Gazette of [[SR Slovenia]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/><ref name="megla218"/> The scandal even led to some of the group members hiding in [[Pleterje Charterhouse]] for a short period of time.<ref name="Janjatović169"/>

The group then, together with Last Few Days, started the international Occupied Europe Tour '83, which included sixteen dates in eight [[West Europe]]an and [[Eastern Bloc]] countries.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The performances provoked a lot of interest in the European media, especially with the band's totalitarian musical and visual style.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The socialist background, effective live appearances and a dissident status in their home country provided the group with a swift increase of interest in the Western countries.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> By combining the imagery of [[socialist realism]], [[Nazism]]—which provoked the Slovene WW2 Veteran Organization in Yugoslavia—and [[Futurism|Italian futurism]], the group created a unique aesthetic style which could not pass unnoticed by the public.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> In [[Poland]], they provoked the public by declaring themselves the sympathizers of [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]].<ref name="megla218"/> The statement provoked someone to present them with feces rolled into newspapers during the press conference in [[Warsaw]].<ref name="megla218"/> At the time of the tour, the song lyrics were mostly in German, but having included cover versions of [[English language]] songs, the group would start focusing more on the latter.<ref name="Janjatović169-170">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=169-170}}</ref>

In 1984, the band members moved to [[Great Britain]], where they worked as labourers in [[London]], worked at a pier in [[Belfast]] and appeared as extras in [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''.<ref name="Janjatović170">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=170}}</ref> Through the [[Belgium|Belgian]] record label L.A.Y.L.A.H. Anitrecords, the group released their debut record, a [[12" single]] with [[Slovene language]] songs "Boji" ("Fights"), "Sila" ("Force") and "Brat moj" ("My Brother").<ref name="Janjatović170"/> At the time, the band also appeared on the various artists album ''World National Anthems'' released by TRAX International, with their version of the Yugoslav [[national anthem]] "[[Hej, Sloveni]]".<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The band returned to Yugoslavia to prepare an exhibit at Ljubljana's Students' Cultural Center, entitled ''The Occupied Europe Tour Documents'', which opened on 5 May 1984.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Simultaneously, the band released the live [[audio cassette]] ''Vstajenje v Berlinu'' (''Resurrection in [[Berlin]]'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

On 7 October 1984, Laibach officially founded the informal art collective [[Neue Slowenische Kunst]] (German for ''New Slovene Art'') with [[visual arts]] group [[IRWIN]] and  [[Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre|Scipion Nasice Sisters]] and Rdeči Pilot (''Red Pilot'') theatre groups.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> They were later joined by Novi kolektivizam (''New Collectivism'') [[design studio]], Graditelji (''Builders'') [[architecture bureau]], Retrovizija (''Retrovision'') film group and the Odeljenje za čisto in praktično filozofijo (''Section for Clean and Practical Philosophy'') group.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The band also started two musical side projects, Germania and [[300.000 V.K.]]<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On 21 December 1984, Laibach held a concert dedicated to the late Hostnik at the Malči Belič Hall in Ljubljana.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Due to the fact that they were still banned from using the name Laibach, they announced the concert with posters featuring only a black cross, the initials of the hall, and date and time of the concert.<ref name="megla218"/>

The following year, the group released their debut studio album, ''[[Laibach (album)|Laibach]]'', through the Ljubljana Students' Cultural Center's label Ropot.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Due to the ban of the name Laibach, the cover featured the group's trademark black cross without any text.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On one of the album tracks, the band used a sample from a speech by Josip Broz Tito, however, it was removed by the state censors.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During the same year, the German label WUS released Laibach compilation album ''[[Rekapitulacija 1980–1984]]'' (''Recapitulation 1980–1984'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The recording of their performance at the Neu Konservatiw festival in [[Hamburg]] on 15 June 1985 was released on the live album ''[[Neu Konservatiw]]''.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> At the end of the year, the band once more held a number of performances in [[West Germany]], this time under the title ''Die erste bombardierung – Laibach über dem Deutschland'' (''The First Bombing – Laibach Over Germany'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The concerts featured hunting imagery, like axes and [[Trophy hunting|trophy antlers]], and during the concerts, the band members sawed wood on stage, surrounded by live tranquilized rabbits.<ref name="megla218"/> 

On 6 February 1986, with the Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre, the group premiered their own play ''Krst pod Triglavom'' (''Baptism Under Triglav'') at the Ljubljana's [[Cankar Centre|Cankar Hall]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The performance was followed by a [[Round table (discussion)|round table]] about the ban of the name Laibach, organized in Ljubljana. The discussion featured academics, representatives of political organizations and authorities, including the president of the Assembly of the City of Ljubljana Tina Tomlje.<ref name="megla218"/> In a TV interview, Tomlje stated that she was informed of the quality of the band's works and of the success they had achieved abroad, but that they would not be allowed to perform in Ljubljana under the name Laibach.<ref name="megla218"/> Soon after, the group released their second studio album, ''[[Nova Akropola]]'' (''The New Acropolis''), via British independent record label [[Cherry Red Records]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> After the album release, the [[League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia|League of Socialist Youth of Slovenia]] on their 12th congress demanded the ban on the usage of the name Laibach to be lifted.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The ban was officially lifted on 4 April 1985, and the group performed their first legal concert in Slovenia under the name Laibach already on the following day, in [[Hum, Brda|Hum]], entitled ''Krvava gruda, plodna zemlja'' (''Bloody Land, Fertile Soil'').<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On the [[Youth Day#Yugoslavia|Yugoslav Youth Day]], the League of Socialist Youth of Slovenia awarded Neue Slowenische Kunst with a plaque, and the League's official magazine ''[[Mladina]]'' awarded the collective with the Zlata ptica (''The Golden Bird'') award.<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

=== International breakthrough, acceptance and wide popularity in Yugoslavia (1986–1991) ===
Laibach's following release was the live album ''The Occupied Europe Tour 1985'', featuring a choice of recordings from their concerts in Ljubljana, Hamburg and London.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In June 1986, the band held four concerts in England, the mini-tour being entitled ''Laibach Over America''.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During their staying in London, they recorded three songs for a [[List of Peel sessions|John Peel session]],<ref name="Janjatović170"/>  and performed with the [[Michael Clark (dancer)|Michael Clark]] dance company in London and [[Manchester]], in the company's play ''No Fire Escape from Hell''.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On 10 October 1986, the group performed in [[Graz]], [[Austria]], on the festival entitled Concert for the Abolishment of Fascist Trade Unions.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> 

Having signed for [[Mute Records]], Laibach started recording their third studio album, ''[[Opus Dei (album)|Opus Dei]]'', working with composer [[Slavko Avsenik Jr.]]<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The [[Album cover|inner sleeve]] of the cover featured a [[swastika]] consisting of four bloodied axes designed by [[John Heartfield]], an anti-Nazi artist.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The record was sold secretly in some European countries, as the meaning of the cover was not recognized.<ref name="Janjatović170"/><ref name="megla219"/> The group achieved commercial success with the cover versions of "[[Live Is Life]]" by [[Opus (Austrian band)|Opus]], entitled "Life Is Life", and "[[One Vision]]" by [[Queen (band)|Queen]], entitled "Geburt einer Nation" ("Birth of a Nation"), which would mark the direction of their future releases.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The track "How the West Was Won" was also well-received by the audience.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The usage of the name ''Opus Dei'' caused the [[Opus Dei|Catholic institution of the same name]] to sue the group, but the case was eventually decided in favor of Laibach.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Following the album release, the group embarked on the United States of Europe Tour, during which they stated at a press conference in [[France]] that their influences are [[Josip Broz Tito|Tito]], [[Toto (band)|Toto]], and [[Jacques Tati|Tati]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On 7 April 1987, they recorded three more songs for a John Peel session.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During May, they once again performed in Clark's company ''No Fire Escape from Hell'' play, in [[Brighton]] and [[Leicester]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/>  On 28 July, they presented the work of Neue Slowenische Kunst at the [[London International Festival of Theatre]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> With Clark's company they performed in [[Los Angeles]], holding three performances in September 1987.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In the [[United States]] they were invited to a reception hosted by the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C.|British ambassador]]. They appeared on the reception wearing their uniforms, and the actor [[Walter Gotell]] (known for his role of [[General Gogol]] in [[James Bond]] film series), who was also present on the reception, saw this as a provocation.<ref name="megla219">{{cite book|last=Megla|first=Maja|title=Leksikon YU mitologije|year=2015|publisher=Rende – Postscriptum|location=Belgrade – Zagreb|page=219}}</ref> In Yugoslavia, the play was performed at the [[Belgrade International Theatre Festival]], however, performance by Laibach and Tito's speeches were omitted.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In September 1987, the band also performed in Hamburg's [[Deutsches Schauspielhaus]] production of ''[[Macbeth]]'', for which they also wrote the music.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The music from the play would be released two years later on the album ''[[Macbeth (album)|Macbeth]]''.<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

In Yugoslavia, ''Opus Dei'' was released in November 1987 by the state-owned major label [[ZKP RTLJ]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The release was followed by the double album ''[[Baptism (Laibach album)|Krst pod Triglavom – Baptism]]'', featuring the music from the play of the same title.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The members of the band were invited to a meeting with Jože Osterman, Secretary of the League of Socialist Working People of Ljubljana, who tried to persuade them to change their name to Ljubljana, as, despite the lifting of the ban on the name Laibach, the group's name still sparked occasional controversies in their home country.<ref name="megla219"/> Despite them, the band held a sold-out concert in Ljubljana entitled ''Svoji ka svojim'' (''To Their Own''),<ref name="megla219"/> and Yugoslav [[Lifestyle journalism|lifestyle]] and entertainment magazine ''Start'' pronounced members of the group the fourth on the list of Best Dressed Men in Yugoslavia.<ref name="megla219"/> After the performance in Ljubljana, the band went on another European tour, during which they appeared at the end of every concert with [[horned helmets]].<ref name="megla219"/> On their performance at the [[Vienna Festival]], they provoked the audience with the intro: "[[Austrians]], You Are [[Germans]]", which almost forced organizers to interrupt the concert.<ref name="megla219"/> Their performance in [[Amsterdam]] was a part of [[European Capital of Culture]] program. During the band's performance on a five-meter–high stage, the performance crew roasted an [[ox]] on a stake on the hall's balcony.<ref name="megla219"/>

In October 1988, the group released the album ''[[Let It Be (Laibach album)|Let It Be]]'', featuring cover versions of all the songs from the [[Beatles]] album [[Let It Be (album)|of the same name]], with the exception of the title track, which they did not record owing to lack of studio time,<ref name="Janjatović170"/> and "[[Maggie Mae]]"; under the title "Maggie Mae", the band released their versions of German [[Folk music|folk]] songs "[[Auf der Lüneburger Heide]]" and "[[Der Freischutz|Was Gleicht Wohl Auf Erden]]".<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Their version of "[[Across the Universe]]" featured [[Anja Rupel]] of the Ljubljana-based [[synth-pop]] band [[Videosex]] on vocals.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> A part of the recorded material from the album would be broadcast by [[Paul McCartney]] before his concerts.<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

[[File:LAIBACH Press Photo 1989.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Laibach in 1989]]
In 1989, the band went on a [[North America]]n tour.<ref name="megla219"/> On their concert in [[Toronto]], they were joined by [[Austria]]n artist and [[Art theory|art theoretician]] [[Peter Weibel]], who appeared on stage half-naked with a horned helmet on his head.<ref name="megla219"/> After their return from North America, they went on a Yugoslav tour, starting with a sold-out concert in Ljubljana's [[Tivoli Hall]].<ref name="megla219"/> Their performance in Zagreb started with the traditional Serbian instrument [[gusle]], and in Belgrade, the NSK philosopher Peter Mlakar held a speech which was a cynical parody of [[Slobodan Milošević]]'s speeches in [[SAP Kosovo]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

The following year, the group released ''[[Sympathy for the Devil (EP)|Sympathy for the Devil]]'', an album of different cover versions of the [[Rolling Stones]] [[Sympathy for the Devil|song of the same name]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The release was followed by European and North American tour.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Upon returning to Yugoslavia, the group embarked on a tour across industrial regions of Slovenia.<ref name="megla220">{{cite book|last=Megla|first=Maja|title=Leksikon YU mitologije|year=2015|publisher=Rende – Postscriptum|location=Belgrade – Zagreb|page=220}}</ref> Their concert in Šentjurje was visited by only five people due to poor promotion, but the band nevertheless performed the whole set.<ref name="megla220"/> The band celebrated their tenth anniversary with a concert held on 21 December 1990 in Trbovlje, at the town's [[thermal power station]], which was their first concert in their hometown.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> At -15°C, the visitors of the concerts were welcomed by a [[brass band]] and [[majorettes]].<ref name="megla220"/> 16 years later Chris Bohn of ''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'' magazine proclaimed this show as one of the 60 most powerful concerts of all times. After this concert, the group undertook a tour of [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

=== Slovenian independence and beyond: new releases and new controversies (1991–present) ===
In 1992, the group released ''[[Kapital (album)|Kapital]]'', an album dealing with [[Economic materialism|materialism]] in contemporary society.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The band released the album on [[vinyl record]], audio cassette and [[compact disc]], recording different versions of the same songs for each format of the album.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During the same year, they proclaimed the State of NSK, promoting its flag, money, postage stamps and passports.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The following year, Mute Records released the ''[[Ljubljana–Zagreb–Beograd]]'' live album, featuring recordings from the 1982 concerts in the three cities, presenting a document of politically active rock from the group's early career, especially with the songs "Tito-Tito", "Država" ("The State"), and "Rdeči molk" ("Red Silence").<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

In 1994, they released the album ''[[NATO (album)|NATO]]'', which commented on the current political events in Eastern Europe, former Yugoslavia and the actions of the [[NATO]] pact, filtered through their blend of [[techno music|techno]] and [[pop music|pop]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The album featured cover versions of [[Europe (band)|Europe]]'s "[[The Final Countdown (song)|The Final Countdown]]", [[Bolland & Bolland]]'s "[[In the Army Now (song)|In the Army Now]]", [[Don Fardon]]'s "[[Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)|Indian Reservation]]" (renamed to "National Reservation"), and [[Stanislav Binički]]'s composition "[[Marš na Drinu]]" ("March on the [[Drina]]").<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During the same year, the band also recorded the song "Zrcalo sveta (Das Spiegelglas der Welt)" ("Mirror of the World") for the [[Kraftwerk]] [[tribute album]] ''Trans Slovenia Express'', featuring songs by Slovenian acts.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The group went on the Occupied Europe NATO Tour 1994-95, provoking the audience in Zagreb and [[Sarajevo]] with their performances of "Marš na Drinu", a [[Serbs|Serbian]] [[World War I]] patriotic [[March (music)|march]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The tour resulted in the [[box set]] comprising a live CD and a [[VHS]] tape, which featured a selection of recordings from the two-year tour, including the performance in [[Sarajevo]] on the date of the signing of the [[Dayton Agreement]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In 1995, the group for a while considered splitting into several simultaneous lineups so that they could perform in different places at the same time, but the idea was abandoned.<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

The following year, the group released ''[[Jesus Christ Superstars]]'', featuring their version of [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]'s [[rock opera]] ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]''.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The group promoted the album in the United States with an eighteen-date tour, followed by a tour across Germany.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On 15 May 1997, the band performed with the Slovenian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marko Letonja, and the Tone Tomšič Choir, for the opening ceremony of the Ljubljana European Month of Culture, presenting orchestral versions of their earliest material, which they rarely performed live, arranged by Uroš Rojko and Aldo Kumar with the members of the group.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During the same year, the live album ''M.B. 21 December 1984'' was released, featuring recordings from the 1984 secret concert in Ljubljana's Malči Belič Hall, the February 1985 concert at the [[Berlin]] Atonal festival, and the April 1985 performance at the Zagreb club [[Kulušić]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The performances had featured guest appearance by Jože Pegam on clarinet and trumpet, and some songs included samples of Tito's speeches.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On 14 November 1997, at a concert in Belgrade, another Peter Mlakar speech received a decidedly mixed audience reaction, in which he asked the audience to "eat the pig and digest it once and for all", referring to the then-[[president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] Slobodan Milošević.<ref name="Janjatović170"/>

[[File:LAIBACH Press Photo 2003.jpg|thumb|left|The 1983–2003 period key members of Laibach in 2003, clockwise: [[Dejan Knez]], Ervin Markošek, Milan Fras and Ivan "Jani" Novak]]
In 2003, the group released the album ''[[WAT (album)|WAT]]'' (an acronym for ''We Are Time''), which, alongside new material, featured the song "Tanz mit Laibach" (German for "Dance with Laibach"), inspired by the song "Der Mussolini" by the German band [[Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft|D.A.F]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Part of the album lyrics were written by Peter Mlakar, and part of the music was composed by the album producer Iztok Turk (former member of [[Videosex]]) and the [[DJ]]s [[Umek]], Bizzy and Dojaja.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In 2003, one of the forming members of the group, Dejan Knez, left Laibach.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In 2004, the group released the double compilation album ''Anthems'', featuring a career-spanning selection of material, as well as the previously unreleased cover of [[Drafi Deutscher]] song "Mama Leone" and remixes of Laibach songs by Random Logic, Umek, Octex, Iztok Turk and others.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> The compilation also features a thorough group biography written by Alexei Monroe.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In 2004, the band released two [[DVD]]s: the first, entitled ''Laibach'', featured music videos and ''A Film about WAT'', directed by Sašo Podgoršek, and the second, entitled ''2'', featured a recording from the Occupied Europe NATO Tour concert in Ljubljana held on 26 October 1995 and the documentary film ''A Film from Slovenia'', directed by Daniel Landin and Peter Vezjak.<ref name="Janjatović171"/>

During 2006, the group released the album ''[[Volk (album)|Volk]]'' (the title meaning ''Wolf'' in Slovene and ''People'' in German), featuring cover versions of national anthems, including the NSK "state anthem" "[[Das Lied der Deutschen]]", originally written in 1797 and used as German national anthem during the [[Weimar Republic]].<ref name="Janjatović170"/> Each cover featured a guest vocalist singing the anthem in their own language, with the exception of the cover of the "[[State Anthem of the Russian Federation]]", which was entitled "Rossiya" and featured a choir composed mostly of the children of [[Russia]]n and [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] diplomats in Slovenia.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> During the same year, on 1 June, the group performed [[J. S. Bach]]'s "[[The Art of Fugue]]" in Bach's hometown [[Leipzig]],<ref name="Janjatović170"/> and their interpretation of the work was released on the album ''[[Laibachkunstderfuge]]'' in 2008.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> In 2007, the group released the DVD ''Live at the CC Club'', featuring the recording of their London concert held on 16 April 2007.<ref name="Janjatović171">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=171}}</ref> The 2008 DVD ''Volk Dead in Trbovlje'' featured the recording of the band's performance held in Trbovlje's Worker's Hall on 23 March 2007, as well as music videos for the songs from ''Volk'' and a documentary about the tour entitled ''Volk Tour Medley'', all directed by Sašo Podgoršek.<ref name="Janjatović170-171">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=170-171}}</ref> 

[[File:Laibach wracku raciborz 07 2010 009.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Milan Fras and Mina Špiler in concert in 2010]]
In 2011, the group released the box set ''Gesamtkunstwerk – Dokument 81–82'' (''Total Work of Art – Document 81–82''), featuring five vinyl records and a DVD with unreleased studio recordings from the early phases of their career.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The compilation was released in a limited number of 600 copies only.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> During the same year, the band recorded a cover of [[Bob Dylan]]'s "[[Ballad of a Thin Man]]", recorded for the tribute album ''Projekt Bob Dylan: Postani prostovoljec!'' (''Project Bob Dylan: Become a Volunteer!''), commissioned by the American Embassy in Ljubljana in honor of Dylan's 70th birthday.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The band was hired by director [[Timo Vuorensola]] to compose music for his [[science fiction comedy]] film ''[[Iron Sky]]'', and it was released on the [[soundtrack album]] ''Iron Sky'' in 2012.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The double album ''Iron Sky Director's Cut'' featured their music originally composed for ''Iron Sky'', but eventually not used in the film.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> On 14 April 2012, in the [[Tate Modern Turbine Hall]] the band held a concert which was envisioned as the recreation of their 1983 concert at Zagreb Biennalle, with guest appearances by some of the group's early members.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The recording of the concert was released on the double live album ''Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde''.<ref name="Janjatović171"/>

In 2014, Laibach released the album ''Spectre'', the title referring to the first line of ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]''.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The band dedicated the album songs "Eurovision", "The Whistleblowers" (musically based on "[[Colonel Bogey March]]"), "We Are Millions and Millions Are One" (featuring new member Mina Špiler on lead vocals) and "No History" to [[Julian Assange]] and [[Edward Snowden]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The [[deluxe edition]] of the album featured four bonus tracks, including a cover of [[Blind Lemon Jefferson]]'s "[[See That My Grave Is Kept Clean]]" and [[Serge Gainsbourg]]'s "[[Love on the Beat]]", and a book entitled ''Spectre Playbook'', a Laibach "manifesto" with a goal of uniting social activists from around the world.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The album ''Spectremix'', released in 2015, featured ''Spectre'' songs remixes by [[Marcel Dettmann]], [[Gramatik]], Iztok Turk and other artists.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> During 2014, the band was invited by National Cultural Centre of Poland to record music for the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the [[Warsaw Uprising]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The band released the material on the [[Extended play|EP]] ''1 VIII 1944 Warszawa'',<ref name="Janjatović171"/> featuring a version of the classic song of the insurgency "Warszawskie Dzieci" ("Children of Warsaw"),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.pl/1/11/Artykul/176305,Laibach-to-release-Warsaw-Rising-tribute/|title=Laibach to release Warsaw Rising tribute|website=PolskieRadio.pl|date=15 July 2014|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-date=11 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411162846/http://www.thenews.pl/1/11/Artykul/176305,Laibach-to-release-Warsaw-Rising-tribute/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

In August 2015, on the initiative of [[Norway|Norwegian]] director [[Morten Traavik]], the band performed in [[Pyongyang]], [[North Korea]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The band held two concerts, on 19 and 20 August, at Kim Won Gyun Musical Conservatory in Nampo-dong, Pyongyang, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of [[Japanese rule of Korea]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mute.com/laibach/announce-the-liberation-day-tour-performing-in-pyongyang-north-korea|title=MUTE • Laibach • Announce 'The Liberation Day Tour' – Performing in Pyongyang, North Korea|website=Mute.com|date=11 June 2015|access-date=18 August 2017|archive-date=9 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709092240/http://mute.com/laibach/announce-the-liberation-day-tour-performing-in-pyongyang-north-korea|url-status=live}}</ref> The concerts saw large attention of the Western media, a part of which described Laibach's upcoming performance as the first performance of a Western rock band in North Korea, although this was later revealed to be a misinformation.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rumba.fi/uutiset/bbc-vaittaa-laibachin-olevan-ensimmainen-ulkomaalainen-yhtye-pohjois-koreassa-potya-suomalaiset-olivat-siella-jo-vuosikymmenia-sitten/|title=BBC väittää Laibachin olevan ensimmäinen ulkomaalainen yhtye Pohjois-Koreassa – Pötyä, suomalaiset olivat siellä jo vuosikymmeniä sitten|website=Rumba.fi|date=16 July 2015|access-date=23 November 2018|archive-date=23 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123154452/https://www.rumba.fi/uutiset/bbc-vaittaa-laibachin-olevan-ensimmainen-ulkomaalainen-yhtye-pohjois-koreassa-potya-suomalaiset-olivat-siella-jo-vuosikymmenia-sitten/|url-status=live}}</ref> The concerts were the subject of the documentary film ''[[Liberation Day (film)|Liberation Day]]'' by Morten Traavik and Uģis Olte, which premiered in 2016.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> In 2017, the band performed in [[South Korea]], becoming the only musical band in the world to have performed in both countries.<ref name="Janjatović171"/>

In July 2017, Laibach released the album ''[[Also Sprach Zarathustra (album)|Also Sprach Zarathustra]]''.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The songs on the album were originally composed for a theatrical production of ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'', based on [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'s [[Thus Spoke Zarathustra|novel of the same name]], directed by Matjaž Berger and premiering in the Anton Podbevšek Theatre in [[Novo Mesto]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> In 2018, the group released the album ''The Sound of Music'', featuring their versions of the songs from the [[The Sound of Music (film)|film of the same name]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The band had previously performed these songs on their North Korea performances, choosing them because they are well-known in the country.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The album included their version of the Korean [[folk song]] "[[Arirang]]", in which the band used traditional Korean instrument [[gayageum]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/>

In 2020, the band released the box set ''Revisited'', featuring a reissue of their debut album with bonus tracks, new versions of their songs from the first half of the 1980s, and two live recordings – one with the [[Radio-Television Slovenia]] Symphony Orchestra, and the other with the [[Lviv]] Philharmonic Orchestra.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The box set included the release entitled ''Underground'', with a recording of one of three performances the group held in 2017 in [[Velenje]] Mine, 200 meters under the ground.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The 2021 live album ''We Forge the Future – Live at Reina Sofia'' featured the recording of the concert held at [[Madrid]]'s [[Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía]] on 26 November 2017 and dedicated to their 1983 Zagreb Biennale performance.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The release featured the book ''Terror of History'', with texts by journalist [[Igor Vidmar]], author Marcel Stefančić and former [[president of Slovenia]] [[Milan Kučan]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> In 2022, Laibach released the album ''Wir sind das Volk (ein Musical aus Deutschland)'' (''We are the People (a Musical of Germany)'') with the music from the theatre play ''We Are the People'', based on the works of [[Heiner Müller]], which premiered in Berlin's [[Hebbel am Ufer]] center on 8 February 2020.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> On their 5 and 6 September 2022 performances at the [[Ljubljana Summer Festival]], the band presented their symphonic work ''Alamut'', based on the 1938 novel ''[[Alamut (Bartol novel)|Alamut]]'' by [[Vladimir Bartol]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The symphony was created in cooperation with [[Iran|Iranian]] composers Nima A.Rowshan and [[Idin Samimi Mofakham]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Quietus {{!}} News {{!}} Laibach Announce Collaboration With Iranian Composers |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/31779-laibach-alamut |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=The Quietus |date=12 July 2022 |language=en-us |archive-date=3 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703021300/https://thequietus.com/news/laibach-alamut/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The band performed the symphony with the Radio-Television of Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, vocal group Gallina, [[Tehran]] choir Human Voice Ensemble and AccordiOna accordion orchestra.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> Following the premiere in Ljubljana, ''Alamut'' got its first European tour the following year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Porter |date=2023-09-18 |title=Slovenia at Frankfurt: Laibach's Sharp-Edged 'Alamut' |url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2023/09/slovenia-at-frankfurt-laibachs-sharp-edged-alamut/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Publishing Perspectives |language=en-US |archive-date=16 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316134316/https://publishingperspectives.com/2023/09/slovenia-at-frankfurt-laibachs-sharp-edged-alamut/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Laibach was scheduled to perform in [[Kyiv]] on 31 March 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/22/laibach-to-become-first-foreign-band-to-perform-in-kyiv-since-invasion|title= Laibach claim they will be first foreign band to perform in Kyiv since invasion|work=The Guardian|date=2023-02-22}}</ref> However, the band's description of the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]] as a [[proxy war]] angered many Ukrainians and the concert was canceled.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-music-entertainment-7b47757c9875d00d7e541e8bf2766e55|title= Slovenian band Laibach's Ukraine concert canceled amid rift|work= The Associated Press|date= 2023-02-27|access-date= 28 February 2023|archive-date= 28 February 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230228095453/https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-music-entertainment-7b47757c9875d00d7e541e8bf2766e55|url-status= live}}</ref> In 2023, the band released their latest studio album ''Sketches from the Red District'' and the EP ''Love Is Still Alive'', the latter featuring the songs written by the band for the 2019 ''Iron Sky'' sequel ''[[Iron Sky: The Coming Race]]''.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> In 2024, the band released several singles: an [[Atonal music|atonal]] cover of [[Billie Holiday]]'s "[[Strange Fruit]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ittNTLZWw|title=LAIBACH : STRANGE FRUIT|date=4 November 2024|access-date=11 August 2025|via=YouTube}}</ref> a cover of "[[White Christmas (song)|White Christmas]]", recorded with Slovenian electronic duo [[Silence (band)|Silence]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NplGX3WKDqI|title=Laibach + Silence: WHITE CHRISTMAS|date=21 November 2024|access-date=11 August 2025|via=YouTube}}</ref> and a Slovene language cover of [[Bijelo Dugme]] song "Top" ("Cannon"), entitled "S topom te bom ciljal moja mala" ("I Will Shoot You With a Cannon, Baby").<ref name="laibachdugme">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teoLBpfuK1U|title=Laibach & Bijelo dugme : S topom te bom ciljal moja mala|date=17 December 2024|access-date=11 August 2025|via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> The latter was recorded in cooperation with Bijelo Dugme's leader [[Goran Bregović]] as a part of marking 50 years since Bijelo Dugme formation.<ref name="danas">{{Cite web|url=https://www.danas.rs/kultura/scena/bijelo-dugme-laibach-pesma/|title=Bijelo dugme i Laibach objavili su zajedničku pesmu i spot "S topom te bom ciljal, moja mala" - Scena - Dnevni list Danas|website=Danas.rs|date=19 December 2024|access-date=11 August 2025}}</ref> The song featured Laibach's old collaborator Vasja Ulrih on lead vocals,<ref name="laibachdugme"/> with the accompanying music video, featuring excerpts from Laibach and Bijelo Dugme music videos and live recordings, compiled by Bregović and Laibach.<ref name="danas"/>

On October 23, 2025 Laibach launched a new single [[Yom Kippur]] featuring Palestinian Children’s Choir. <ref name="Side-Line">{{Cite web|url=https://www.side-line.com/laibach-yom-kippur-single-nika-2025/|title=Laibach issues 'Yom Kippur' single featuring Palestinian Children's Choir via Nika |website=side-line.com|date=26 October 2025|access-date=26 October 2025}}</ref>

== Musical style ==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2018}}
[[File:Laibach, SPB, 2013-12-01 (11176350523).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Laibach performing in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia in 2013]]
Early Laibach works were described as [[industrial rock]] by Yugoslav music press.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The band's early releases were marked by heavy rhythms and roaring vocals. In the mid-1980s, with incorporating the covers of popular songs into their repertoire, the band's sound became more richly layered, featuring samples from [[Pop music|pop]] and [[classical music]].

Laibach's [[cover song|cover version]]s are often used to subvert the original message or intention of the song, a notable example being their version of the song "[[Live Is Life]]" by the Austrian [[pop rock]] band [[Opus (Austrian band)|Opus]]. Laibach recorded two versions of the song, titled "Leben heißt Leben" and "Opus Dei". The first, the opening song on the Laibach album ''[[Opus Dei (album)|Opus Dei]]'', was sung in German. The second was promoted as a single, and its promotional video (which used the title "[[Live Is Life#Laibach versions|Life Is Life]]") was played extensively on American cable channel [[MTV]].<ref name="monroe231">{{cite book|last=Monroe|first=Alexei|title=Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK|year=2005|publisher=MIT Press|location=|page=231}}</ref> "Opus Dei" retained some of the original song's [[English language|English]] lyrics, but was delivered in a musical style that left the meaning of the lyrics open to interpretation. Whereas the original is a feel-good pop anthem, Laibach's interpretation twists the melody into a triumphant military march. With the exception of the promotional video, the refrain is at one point translated into German, giving an example of the sensitivity of lyrics to their context. The ''Opus Dei'' album also features a cover of [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s "[[One Vision]]" with lyrics translated into German under the title '"Geburt einer Nation" ("Birth of a Nation"), revealing the ambiguity of lines like "One race one hope / One real decision".

[[File:Laibach Live in Budapest, Hungary, April 2014.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Milan Fras in concert in [[Budapest]], Hungary in 2014]]
Laibach not only references modern artists through reinterpretation, but also samples or reinvents older musical pieces. For example, their song "Anglia", released on ''[[Volk (album)|Volk]]'', is based on the national anthem of the [[United Kingdom]], "[[God Save the Queen]]".<ref name="Janjatović169"/> They have also toured with an audio-visual performance centered on [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s ''[[The Art of Fugue|Die Kunst der Fuge]]''. Since this work has no specifications of acquired instruments and is furthermore [[The Art of Fugue#The permutation matrix|based on mathematical principles]], Laibach has argued that the music can be seen as proto-[[techno]]. Therefore, the band found ''Die Kunst der Fuge'' to be ideal for an interpretation using computers and software. In 2009, Laibach reworked [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''Overture to [[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', ''Siegfried-Idyll'' and ''The Ride Of The Valkyries'' in collaboration with the [[RTV Slovenia]] Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Izidor Leitinger. Laibach's version is titled "VolksWagner".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.laibach.nsk.si/volkswagner/ |title=Laibach Volkswagner |website=Laibach.nsk.si |date=18 April 2009 |access-date=6 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128180539/http://www.laibach.nsk.si/volkswagner/ |archive-date=28 November 2009 }}</ref>

In addition to cover songs, Laibach has remixed songs by other bands. These include two songs by the Florida [[death metal]] band [[Morbid Angel]] that appear on the Morbid Angel EP ''Laibach Re-mixes''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.morbidangel.com/laibach.html |title=Discography |website=MorbidAngel.com |access-date=6 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129075630/http://morbidangel.com/laibach.html |archive-date=29 January 2009 }}</ref>

== Aesthetics, image and controversy ==
[[File:LAIBACH The Thrower.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Laibach 1983 visual work ''The Thrower'']]
At the early stage of their career, Laibach's visuals employed [[socialist realism|socialist realist]] mining iconography,<ref name="Janjatović169"/> and later the band incorporated, alongside influences from socialist realism, influences from [[Art in Nazi Germany|Nazi art]] and [[Futurism|Italian futurism]] to their imagery.<ref name="Janjatović170"/> On their early promotional posters the band used black crosses from the works of [[Russian avant-garde]] artist and art theorist [[Kazimir Malevich]],<ref name="Janjatović169"/> later incorporating a black cross into their logo, consisting of a cross encircled with a gear.<ref name="Janjatović169"/> In the mid-1980s, when the usage of the name Laibach was banned in Yugoslavia, the group used posters with black crosses without band name to advertise their performances,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artmargins.com/content/review/griffin.html |title=A R T M a r g i n s - Winifred M. Griffin: Review of'' Laibach ''and Irwin |access-date=22 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312073938/http://www.artmargins.com/content/review/griffin.html |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}</ref> and their debut album was released with the black cross and without any text on the cover.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> Cross imagery, and variations on the cross are apparent in many Laibach recordings and publications. Some Laibach releases feature artwork by the [[Communism|communist]] and early [[Dada]] artist [[John Heartfield]].<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The usage of Heartfield's anti-Nazi work depicting swastika consisting of four bloodied axes on the inner sleeve of the album ''[[Opus Dei (album)|Opus Dei]]'' caused controversies in some European countries.<ref name="Janjatović171"/>

The visual imagery of Laibach's art has been described as "radically ambiguous".<ref name="monroe76">{{cite book|last=Monroe|first=Alexei|title=Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK|year=2005|publisher=MIT Press|location=|page=76}}</ref> An early example of this ambiguity would be the [[woodcut]] entitled ''The Thrower'', also known as ''Metalec'' (''The Metal Worker''). This work features a monochrome silhouette of a figure with a clenched fist holding a hammer aloft. The work could be seen both as promoting industrial protest or as a symbol of industrial pride. Another aspect of this woodcut is the large typefaced word ''LAIBACH'', evoking memories of the Nazi occupation of Slovenia. This piece was featured prominently during the band's 1983 interview for ''TV tednik''.<ref name="monroe161">{{cite book|last=Monroe|first=Alexei|title=Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK|year=2005|publisher=MIT Press|location=|page=161}}</ref>

Laibach has frequently been accused of both [[far left]] and [[far right]] political stances due to their use of uniforms and [[totalitarian]]-style [[aesthetics]]. They were also accused of being [[neo-nationalism|neo-nationalists]]. When confronted with such accusations, Laibach is quoted as replying with the ambiguous response "We are [[fascist]]s as much as [[Paintings by Adolf Hitler|Hitler was a painter]]".<ref name="VH1">{{cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/laibach/bio.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040612193631/http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/laibach/bio.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 June 2004|website=VH1.com|title=Laibach Biography|access-date = 22 April 2007}}</ref> Laibach concerts have sometimes aesthetically appeared as political rallies, and the members of Laibach are notorious for rarely stepping out of character. When interviewed, they often answer in wry manifestos, showing a paradoxical lust for, and condemnation of, authority.<ref name="VH1"/>

Finnish author and nationalist Tuomas Tähti disclosed in his 2019 book ''Nationalistin henkinen horisontti'' that Laibach member Ivan "Jani" Novak told him in March 2015 that the band is a communist group and most of their work is connected to communism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tähti |first=Tuomas |title=Nationalistin henkinen horisontti |language=fi |location=Espoo |publisher=Tuomas Tähti |publication-date=May 2019 |page=145 |isbn=978-952-94-1815-2}}</ref>

British musician and journalist [[Richard Wolfson (musician)|Richard Wolfson]] wrote of the group:

{{quote|Laibach's method is extremely simple, effective and horribly open to misinterpretation. First of all, they absorb the mannerisms of the enemy, adopting all the seductive trappings and symbols of state power, and then they exaggerate everything to the edge of parody... Next they turn their focus to highly charged issues—the West's fear of immigrants from Eastern Europe, the power games of the [[European Union|EU]], the analogies between Western [[democracy]] and totalitarianism.<ref>Richard Wolfson, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3601856/Warriors-of-weirdness.html "Warriors of weirdness"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205093612/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3601856/Warriors-of-weirdness.html |date=5 February 2022 }}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 4 September 2003</ref>}}

Slovenian philosopher [[Slavoj Žižek]] stated about the group after their performance in North Korea:

{{quote|Quite often [[libertarian left]]ists were embarrassed by Laibach. On the one hand, of course, they had to support Laibach. But they were very uneasy about how to take Laibach. Their primordial fear—which is for me the first sign that they didn't understand anything about Laibach—was to claim that Laibach is a great ironic spectacle of subtly mocking, making fun of authority and so on. But then, almost always in my experience—I experienced this with my leftist friends—they added a worry: "What if people will not get it properly, what if people would take Laibach too seriously and perceive, or rather mispercieve, what is their ironic spectacle as real celebration of totalitarianism?" No, I think things are much more complex. Laibach is not simply making fun of totalitarianism. Laibach is bringing out the authoritarian feature which is present in most societies, even in the most democratic societies. [...] I think that Laibach is deeply aware [...] of this deep ambiguity of even the most democratic power. And they are trying to bring this authoritarian streak out even with a certain open fascination. There is no distance there. They are not making fun of it. They are openly enjoying it. So that's the traumatic message of Laibach: staging the real of power. [...] Usual left liberal critics or public of Laibach, they are reading Laibach along the lines of this standard humanist gap, searching behind the strict, totalitarian mask of Laibach for warm, humane persons. They want to find behind the mask of Laibach—all this low bass industrial totalitarian music—this guarantee: "Don't be afraid, behind this mask they are just ordinary warm people like ourselves." No, the message of Laibach is just the opposite one. It's not: "Don't be afraid, beneath our totalitarian mask we are warm, normal, compassionate people like you". No, it's—even if we look at our everyday life in the West, like normal, compassionate people, all the disgusting spectacles that we are doing in the West, charity, helping others and so on—we are really what we play to be. We are monsters, there is no humanity behind it. So, you see, it's not about North Korea. You will not learn a lot from Laibach about North Korea. You will learn a lot about our own anxieties and hypocrisies.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRfgKrmI9Po "Slavoj Žižek introducing: Laibach in North Korea"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819132825/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRfgKrmI9Po |date=19 August 2023 }}, ''[[YouTube]]'', 4 September 2003</ref>}}

== Legacy, influence and innovation ==
Despite emerging on the rich and vibrant [[Yugoslav rock scene]], Laibach is widely considered to be the only Yugoslav band to achieve large popularity in Western Europe during the existence of SFR Yugoslavia.<ref name="Janjatović171"/> The band has influenced a number of acts, has been paid tribute by several projects and has been a subject of several books and documentary films.

=== Tributes ===
In 1999, a tribute album to Laibach entitled ''Schlecht und Ironisch – Laibach Tribut'' (''Bad and Ironic – Laibach Tribute'') was released.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Various-Schlecht-Und-Ironisch-Laibach-Tribut/release/466365 |title=Various – Schlecht Und Ironisch – Laibach Tribut (CD, Comp) at Discogs |website=Discogs.com |date=1999 |access-date=6 November 2009 |archive-date=2 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902051217/http://www.discogs.com/Various-Schlecht-Und-Ironisch-Laibach-Tribut/release/466365 |url-status=live }}</ref> Canadian [[industrial metal|industrial]] [[doom metal]] band [[Zaraza]] released a Laibach tribute EP entitled ''Montrealska Akropola – A Tribute to Laibach'' (''[[Montreal]] Acropolis – A Tribute to Laibach'') in 2004.<ref name="Janjatović172">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=170-172}}</ref>

=== Martial music ===
Some early material by Laibach and later [[neoclassical (Dark Wave)|neoclassical]] releases by the band, such as the album ''[[Macbeth (album)|Macbeth]]'', were influential on certain artists within the [[martial industrial]] music genre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radioswissjazz.ch/en/music-database/band/814762f818c7862ad5cb144b4aed6a2151dcc/biography|title=Radio Swiss Jazz - Music database - Band|website=Radioswissjazz.ch|access-date=19 July 2021|archive-date=12 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212070510/http://www.radioswissjazz.ch/en/music-database/band/814762f818c7862ad5cb144b4aed6a2151dcc/biography|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Rammstein ===
Laibach is often cited as an influence for the popular German [[Neue Deutsche Härte]] band [[Rammstein]]. The parallel is regularly made between the bands regarding their aesthetics and deep male vocals both groups share and with their respective backgrounds of originating from former socialist countries.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9941678 |title= Mitä tapahtuu, kun fasismia flirttaileva rock-bändi päätyy kommunistidiktatuuriin? |publisher= Yle |date= 2017 |website= yle.fi |access-date= 24 May 2020 |archive-date= 9 November 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201109043631/https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9941678 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://psychotroniccinema.com/2017/07/21/liberation-day-with-laibach-and-director-morten-traavik/ |title= LIBERATION DAY – INTERVIEW WITH LAIBACH AND DIRECTOR MORTEN TRAAVIK |publisher= The Psychotronic Cinema |date= 2017 |website=psychotroniccinema.com |access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/laibach-cares-more-about-your-freedom-than-you-do/|title=Laibach Cares More About Your Freedom Than You Do|publisher=Vice|date=2014|website=vice.com|access-date=25 May 2020|archive-date=25 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625225250/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ry4356/laibach-cares-more-about-your-freedom-than-you-do|url-status=live}}</ref>

When asked about the topic in an interview, Rammstein guitarist [[Richard Kruspe]] claimed Rammstein to have a more emotional approach instead of the more "intellectual" style of Laibach. In the same interview the keyboard player of Rammstein [[Christian Lorenz]] drew a parallel between the deep voices of [[Till Lindemann]] and Milan Fras but considered this to be the only similarity between the two music groups.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Bdg9QVs54| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/d7Bdg9QVs54| archive-date=2021-11-10 | url-status=live|title= Rammstein VIVA JAM Interview 1997 (English)  |publisher= VIVA JAM |date= 1997 |website=youtube.com |access-date=24 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The documentary film ''Liberation Day'' ends with a notice stating that a member of a certain [[industrial metal]] band was supposed to be interviewed for the film about the influence Laibach had on their earlier work, but it had to be removed due to the prospect of arrest or a fine from the district court of Berlin towards the makers of the film. This, and the early promotional material for the film<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liberationday.film/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/LIBERATION-DAY-PRESS-KIT-2016.pdf |title=LIBERATION-DAY-PRESS-KIT-2016 |publisher=VFS FILMS |date=2016 |website=liberationday.film/ |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128075725/http://www.liberationday.film/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/LIBERATION-DAY-PRESS-KIT-2016.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> suggest that it was [[Paul Landers]] who was to appear in the film. 

When members of Laibach were asked by an interviewer about Rammstein "stealing" from them, they responded: "Laibach does not believe in originality... Therefore, Rammstein could not 'steal' much from us. They simply let themselves get inspired by our work, which is absolutely a legitimate process. We are glad that they made it. In a way, they have proven once again that a good 'copy' can make more money on the market than the 'original'. Anyhow, today we share the territory: Rammstein seem to be a kind of Laibach for adolescents and Laibach are Rammstein for grown-ups."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legendsmagazine.net/139/laibach.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040818164446/http://www.legendsmagazine.net/139/laibach.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=18 August 2004|title=Interview: Laibach|access-date = 22 April 2007}}</ref> Laibach would later provide a remix for the Rammstein single "[[Ohne dich]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://laut.de/Rammstein/Songs/Ohne-Dich-Remix-by-Laibach-1005474|title=Ohne Dich (Remix by Laibach)|work=Laut|access-date=31 May 2025}}</ref>

=== Rankings ===
Laibach album ''[[Sympathy for the Devil (album)|Sympathy for the Devil]]'' was proclaimed in 2006 the 7th on ''[[The Mail on Sunday]]'' list of Ten Greatest Tribute Albums of All Time.<ref name="Janjatović172"/> The album ''[[Opus Dei (album)|Opus Dei]]'' was included in 2008 in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.<ref name="Janjatović172"/> The same album was polled in 2015 as the 86th on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Albums published by the Croatian edition of ''[[Rolling Stone]]''.<ref name="rollingstone84">{{cite magazine|title=Rolling Stone – Specijalno izdanje: 100 najboljih albuma 1955 – 2015|magazine=Rolling Stone|publisher=S3 Mediji|location=Zagreb|issue=Special edition|pages=84|language=hr}}</ref>

=== Books and documentaries ===
Laibach has been the subject of several books:
* ''NSK Monography'' (1992),<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK'' (2005) by Alexei Monroe,<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''Celostna umetnina Laibach: fragmentarni pogled'', (''The Laibach Integral Artwork: A Fragmentary View'', 2014) by Barbara Borčič,<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''Laibach: 40 godina večnosti'' (''Laibach: 40 Years of Eternity'', 2021) by Teodor Lorenčič.<ref name="Janjatović171"/>

The band has also been the subject of several documentaries:
* ''Laibach: Victory Under the Sun'' (1988), directed by [[Goran Gajić]],<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''Bravo'' (1993), directed by Peter Vezjak and Daniel Landin,<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''Laibach: A Film from Slovenia'' (1993), directed by Daniel Landin and Chris Bohn,<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''[[Predictions of Fire]]'' (1996), directed by Michael Benson,<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''Divided States of America – Laibach 2004 Tour'' (2006), directed by Sašo Podgoršek,<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''[[Liberation Day (film)|Liberation Day]]'' (2016), directed by Ugis Olte and Morten Traavik,<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* ''LP Film Laibach'' (2017), directed by Igor Zupe.<ref name="Janjatović171"/>

== Members ==
[[File:Laibach, Ivan Novak, Oslo, 2017.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Ivan "Jani" Novak (pictured in 2017) has been a Laibach member since the beginning of the group's career and the leader of the band since the departure of the band's forming member Dejan Knez in 2003. Credited as "[[Engineers of the human soul|engineer of the human soul]]", Novak is the spokesperson for Laibach and does not appear on stage during live performances.]]
[[File:Laibach Spectre Tour 2014 Koeln 2014 03 14 Milan Fras.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Milan Fras (pictured in 2014) has been Laibach lead vocalist since the death of the group's original frontman Tomaž Hostnik in 1982.]]
[[File:20160406 Bochum Laibach 0729.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Mina Špiler (pictured in 2016) performed with Laibach as keyboardist and vocalist from 2006 to 2018.]]
Laibach evolved from the band Salto Mortale, formed in 1978 by [[Dejan Knez]].<ref name="Janjatović169"/> The first incarnation of Laibach formed in 1980 included Dejan Knez, Tomaž Hostnik, Srečko Bajda, Andrej Lupinc, and Marko Košnik. Soon after that, Knez's relative Ivan "Jani" Novak and Milan Fras joined the band. First a quintet, Laibach quickly became a quartet and declared that the group had four members: "Vier Personen".

From mid-1980s to mid-1990s, while the core quartet included Dejan Knez, Milan Fras, Ervin Markošek and Ivan "Jani" Novak, the members frequently used the pseudonyms Dachauer, Keller, Saliger and Eber.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nskstate.com/laibach/reviews/laibachkunstderfuge.php |title=Laibach &#93; [ Konzert Fuer Das Kreuzschach Und Vier Schauspieler &#93; |website=Nskstate.com |access-date=6 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014112748/http://www.nskstate.com/laibach/reviews/laibachkunstderfuge.php |archive-date=14 October 2009 }}</ref> The pseudonym Ivo Saliger was originally used by original singer Tomaž Hostnik and more recently by Ivan Novak.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laibach.org/tomaz-hostnik-08-11-1961-21-12-1982/|title=Tomaž Hostnik 08. 11. 1961 – 21. 12. 1982|website=Laibach.org|access-date=12 August 2015|archive-date=2 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202174559/http://www.laibach.org/tomaz-hostnik-08-11-1961-21-12-1982/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.km-k.at/en/event/ivan-novak-laibach/|title=Events – Ivo Saliger (Laibach) "LAIBACH: XY-UNSOLVED" :: KM– Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien|website=Km-k.at|access-date=12 August 2015|archive-date=21 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521064510/http://www.km-k.at/en/event/ivan-novak-laibach/|url-status=live}}</ref> The pseudonym Elk Eber has been used by Dejan Knez.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.letsceefilmfestival.com/film-detail2015/items/ivo_salinger_und_elk_eber_victory_under.html?lang=en |title=Info: Master Class: Ivo Saliger & Elk Eber "Victory Under the Sun - Fiction and Reality" - letsceefilmfestival.com - DE |access-date=8 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090232/http://www.letsceefilmfestival.com/film-detail2015/items/ivo_salinger_und_elk_eber_victory_under.html?lang=en |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mg-lj.si/en/events/1104/dejan-knez-and-ivan-novak-guided-tour/|title=NSK From Kapital to Capital - Dejan Knez and Ivan Novak - guided tour - MG+MSUM|website=Mg-lj.si|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818045342/http://www.mg-lj.si/en/events/1104/dejan-knez-and-ivan-novak-guided-tour/|url-status=live}}</ref> Former member Andrej Lupinc has continued to use the pseudonym Keller after leaving the band.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Keller+(2)|title=Keller (2)|website=Discogs|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=8 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108044723/http://www.discogs.com/artist/Keller+(2)|url-status=live}}</ref> Occasionally, other musicians supplemented the core group, some of whom included Oto Rimele (former guitarist for [[Lačni Franz]]), Nikola Sekulović (bass player for [[Demolition Group]]), and [[Anja Rupel]] (vocalist for [[Videosex]] and a solo artist).

On 20 June 2015, the band held a sound performance entitled ''Musical Nocturne'' with their most famous line-up of Knez, Novak, Fras and Markošek.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nsk.mg-lj.si/events/musical-nocturne-a-sound-performance-by-laibach-2/|title=Musical Nocturne - a sound performance by Laibach - NSK - From Kapital to Capital - Neue Slowenische Kunst Exhibition|website=Nsk.mg-lj/si|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818045301/http://nsk.mg-lj.si/events/musical-nocturne-a-sound-performance-by-laibach-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 9 May 2025, Laibach held a concert in Cukrarna gallery in Ljubljana "We Forge the Future, Reconstruction of a historical concert", which was a reconstruction of their 1983 Zagreb Biennale concert. Dejan Knez, Ivan Novak, Iztok Turk, Srečko Bajda, Luka Jamnik and Vitja Balžalorsky appeared on stage.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cukrarna.art/en/program/events/273/2025-05-09/21-00/laibach-we-forge-the-future//|title=We Forge the Future, Reconstruction of a historical concert|website=cukrarna.art|access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref>

=== Official members (pseudonyms) ===
* Eber (after Elk Eber)
* Saliger (after Ivo Saliger)
* Dachauer (after [[Wilhelm Dachauer]])
* Keller

=== Current touring band ===
* Milan Fras – vocals
* Ivan "Jani" Novak – bandleader, light, stage effects
* Marina Mårtensson – vocals, acoustic guitar
* Vitja Balžalorsky – guitar
* Bojan Krhlanko – drums
* Luka Jamnik – electronics, synthesizers
* Rok Lopatič – keyboards, synthesizers (sometimes replaced by Sašo Vollmaier)

=== Former members and former/frequent collaborators ===
* Tomaž Hostnik – vocals, electronics (1980–1982)
* [[Dejan Knez]] – keyboards, drums, electronics (1980–2003)
* Srečko Bajda – electronics, voice, often humorously credited as Felix Casio
* Andrej Lupinc – electronics (1980–1982)
* Bine Zerko – electronics
* Ervin Markošek – drums, keyboards, electronics (left the band in 1989, returned for the studio album ''[[Kapital (album)|Kapital]]'', and appears on press photos until ''[[WAT (album)|WAT]]'')
* Marko Košnik – electronics (1981–1983)
* Marjan Benčina – electronics, synthesizers (1982–1983)
* [[Mina Špiler]] – vocals, synthesizer
* Vasja Ulrih – voice (on some early tracks, some tracks on ''[[NATO (album)|NATO]]'' and ''Kapital'' studio albums and on "S topom te bom ciljal, moja mala" single)
* David Jarh - trumpet and flugelhorn
* Janko Novak – operatic voice (on some tracks on the ''[[Let It Be (Laibach album)|Let It Be]]'' studio album)
* [[Borut Kržišnik]] – guitar
* Oto Rimele – guitar
* Matej Mršnik – guitar
* Dare Hočevar – bass
* Nikola Sekulović – bass
* Dragoslav Radojković – drums (1982–1986)
* Roman Dečman – drums (1986–2006)
* Janez Gabrič – drums (2006–2018)
* Bojan Khrlanko – drums (2018-)
* Eva Breznikar – vocals, percussion (''[[WAT (album)|WAT]]'' and ''[[Volk (album)|Volk]]'' tours)
* Nataša Regovec – vocals, percussion (''WAT'' and ''Volk'' tours)
* Sašo Vollmaier – synthesizer, piano
* Boris Benko – vocals
* Primož Hladnik
* Damjan Bizilj – synthesizer
* Iztok Turk – electronics, composer
* [[Anja Rupel]] – vocals
* Jože Pegam – various instruments
* Matjaž Pegam
* Peter Mlakar – speeches
* Sašo Podgoršek – videos
* Grant Austin – sound engineer 
* Svetozar Mišić – documentation
* Anže Rozman – live orchestral arrangements
* Álvaro Domínguez Vázquez – live orchestral arrangements
* [[Slavko Avsenik Jr.]] – orchestral and choir arrangements (from ''[[Opus Dei (album)|Opus Dei]]'' to ''[[Spectre (Laibach album)|Spectre]]'')

== Appearances in popular culture ==
* In 1989, on his second studio album ''[[Hoćemo gusle]]'' (''We Want Gusle''), Yugoslav [[alternative rock]] musician [[Rambo Amadeus]] recorded a Laibach [[parody]] song "Samit u burekdžinici Laibach" ("Summit in the [[Burek]]-Bakery Laibach"), featuring the song lyrics from the poems "Santa Maria della Salute" ("Saint Mary of Health") by [[Laza Kostić]] and "Strepnja" ("Trepidation") by [[Desanka Maksimović]] and the chorus from the [[turbo folk]] song "Čaše lomim, ruke mi krvave" ("I Break the Glasses, My Hands Are Bleeding").<ref name="Janjatović250">{{harvnb|Janjatović|2024|p=250}}</ref>  A promotional video was also recorded for the track, parodying Laibach videos and aesthetics.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2BhZXO8sMY| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/U2BhZXO8sMY| archive-date=2021-11-10 | url-status=live|title=Rambo Amadeus - Samit u burekdžinici Laibach|publisher=[[YouTube]]|date=2016-01-18|access-date=2025-02-02}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* Von Bach, a fictional [[supervillain]] modeled after Milan Fras, appears in the [[DC Comics]] graphic novel ''[[Kingdom Come (comics)|Kingdom Come]]'', by [[Alex Ross]] and [[Mark Waid]]. Von Bach appears dressed in Laibach-style uniform and displays the group's cross tattooed on his chest. He is described as follows: "German-speaking superhuman and would-be dictator is the example of the Hitleresque villain that had so much symbolic importance in the [[Golden Age of comic books]]. The blocky cross on his chest is evocative of the kind of bold symbols used by fascists. Von Bach has the words 'Liebe' (love) and 'Hass' (hate) tattooed on his arms and, in fact, his entire body has been covered with one large tattoo of that dark color that most tattoos become, with his natural flesh color only coming through in the designs on his body". On the [[Neue Slowenische Kunst|NSK State]] website, the band states they have "been paid with uncommon honour" by this.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nskstate.com/laibach/reviews/laibach_among_superheroes.php |title=Laibach among superheroes |access-date=14 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101142141/http://www.nskstate.com/laibach/reviews/laibach_among_superheroes.php |archive-date=1 January 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Laibach's version of the [[Juno Reactor]] song "God Is God" (which was itself inspired by Laibach's cover of [[Opus (Austrian band)|Opus]]'s song "[[Live Is Life]]") from the album ''[[Jesus Christ Superstars]]'' appears on the second soundtrack disc for the computer game ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert]]'', which was released only in the German release of the Special Edition pack,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Various-Command-Conquer-Alarmstufe-Rot/release/411353 |title=Various – Command & Conquer – Alarmstufe Rot (2xCD) at Discogs |website=Discogs.com |date=1997 |access-date=6 November 2009 |archive-date=23 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323072211/http://www.discogs.com/Various-Command-Conquer-Alarmstufe-Rot/release/411353 |url-status=live }}</ref> and on the album ''The Blair Witch Project: Josh's Blair Witch Mix''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Blair-Witch-Project-Joshs-Blair-Witch-Mix/release/445100 |title=Various – The Blair Witch Project: Josh's Blair Witch Mix (CD, Comp, Enh) at Discogs |website=Discogs.com |date=1999 |access-date=6 November 2009 |archive-date=16 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416010002/http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Blair-Witch-Project-Joshs-Blair-Witch-Mix/release/445100 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Discography ==
=== Studio albums ===
* ''[[Laibach (album)|Laibach]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Nova Akropola]]'' (1986)
* ''[[Opus Dei (album)|Opus Dei]]'' (1987)
* ''[[Baptism (Laibach album)|Krst pod Triglavom – Baptism]]'' (1987)
* ''[[Let It Be (Laibach album)|Let It Be]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Macbeth (album)|Macbeth]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Sympathy for the Devil (album)|Sympathy for the Devil]]'' (1990)
* ''[[Kapital (album)|Kapital]]'' (1992)
* ''[[NATO (album)|NATO]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Jesus Christ Superstars]]'' (1996)
* ''[[WAT (album)|WAT]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Volk (album)|Volk]]'' (2006)
* ''[[Laibachkunstderfuge]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Iron Sky|Iron Sky – The Original Soundtrack]]'' (2012)
* ''[[Iron Sky|Iron Sky Director's Cut]]'' (2013)
* ''[[Spectre (Laibach album)|Spectre]]'' (2014)
* ''[[Also Sprach Zarathustra (album)|Also Sprach Zarathustra]]'' (2017)
* ''[[The Sound of Music (Laibach album)|The Sound of Music]]'' (2018)
* ''Wir sind das Volk (Ein Musical aus Deutschland)'' (2022)
* ''Sketches of the Red Districts'' (2023)
* ''Opus Dei Revisited'' (2024)
* ''Alamut'' (2025)

=== EPs ===
* ''[[Party Songs (Laibach album)|Party Songs]]'' (2019)
* ''Love Is Still Alive'' (2023)

=== Live albums ===
* ''Documents of Oppression (Live from N.L. Centrum, Amsterdam)'' (1984)
* ''Vstajenje v Berlinu'' (1984)
* ''V2 Live Nr.3'' (1985)
* ''[[Neu Konservatiw]]'' (1985)
* ''Ein Schauspieler'' (1985)
* ''The Occupied Europe Tour 1985'' (1986)
* ''Divergences / Divisions (Live in Bordeaux)'' (1986)
* ''[[Ljubljana-Zagreb-Beograd]]'' (1993)
* ''Occupied Europe NATO Tour 1994-95'' (1996)
* ''[[M.B. December 21, 1984]]'' (1997)
* ''The John Peel Sessions'' (2002)
* ''[[Volk Tour London CC Club]]'' (2007)
* ''Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde'' (2012)
* ''We Forge the Future – Live at Reina Sofia'' (2021)

=== Compilation albums ===
* ''Laibach / Last Few Days'' (With Last Few Days, 1983)
* ''[[Rekapitulacija 1980–1984]]'' (1985)
* ''Slovenska Akropola'' (1987)
* ''[[Anthems (Laibach album)|Anthems]]'' (2004)
* ''An Introduction to... Laibach'' (2012)

=== Box sets ===
* ''Gesamtkunstwerk – Dokument 81–86'' (2011)
* ''Revisited'' (2020)

=== Video albums ===
* ''Laibach'' (2004)
* ''2'' (2004)
* ''Divided States of America'' (2006)
* ''Volk Dead in Trbovlje'' (2008)

=== Singles ===
==== 7-inch singles ====
* "[[Live Is Life|Life Is Life]]" / "Germania" (1987)
* "[[Across the Universe]]" / "[[Auf der Lüneburger Heide|Maggie Mae]]" (Mute, 1988, London)

==== 12-inch singles ====
* "Boji" / "Sila" / "Brat Moj" (1984)
* "Panorama" / "Decree" (1984)
* "Die Liebe" / "Grösste Kraft" (1985)
* "Geburt einer Nation" / "Leben heisst Leben (ins.)" (1987)
* "Life Is Life" / "Germania" / "Life" (1987)
* "[[Sympathy for the Devil]] 1" / "Laibach, 300.000 V.K." (1988)
* "Sympathy for the Devil 2" / "Germania, 300.000 V.K." (1988) - UK No. 137
* "Sympathy for the Devil" / "Sympathy for the Devil" (picture disc, 1988)
* "Across the Universe" / "Maggie Mae" / "[[Get Back]]" (1988) - UK No. 160
* "3. Oktober" / "Geburt einer Nation (live)" (1990)
* "Wirtschaft ist tot" / "Wirtschaft ist tot" (1992)
* "Wirtschaft ist tot" / "Sympathy for the Devil" (promotional remixes single, 1992)
* "[[The Final Countdown (song)|Final Countdown]]" / "Final Countdown" (1994)
* "[[In the Army Now (song)|In the Army Now]]" / "[[War (Edwin Starr song)|War]]" (1995)
* "God Is God" (1996)
* "Tanz mit Laibach" (2004)
* "Das Spiel ist aus" (2004)
* "Anglia" (2006)

==== CD singles ====
* "Sympathy for the Devil" / "Sympathy for the Devil" / "Sympathy for the Devil" (picture CD, 1988)
* "Across the Universe" / "Maggie Mae" / "Get Back" (1988)
* "Panorama" / "Die Liebe" / "Decree" / "Grösste Kraft" (1989, London)
* "3. Oktober" / "Geburt einer Nation (live)" (1990)
* "Wirtschaft ist tot" / "Wirtschaft ist tot" (1992)
* "Final Countdown" / "Final Countdown" (1994)
* "In the Army Now" / "War" (1995)
* "[[Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar song)|Jesus Christ Superstar]]" / "God Is God" (1996)
* "Tanz mit Laibach" (2004)
* "Das Spiel ist aus" (2004)
* "Anglia" (2006)
* "1 VIII 1944" (2014)

== Side projects ==
* [[300.000 V.K.]], [[Dejan Knez]] electronic music side project<ref name="Janjatović171"/>
* Germania, side project by Laibach, Iztok Turk, and [[Anja Rupel]]
* 600.000 V.K., responsible for the music for the [[Noordung (NSK)|Noordung]] theatre productions
* Kraftbach

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Additional sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Inke |last=Arns | title=Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) – eine Analyse ihrer kuenstlerischen Strategien im Kontext der 1980er Jahre in Jugoslawien |trans-title=Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) – an Analysis of their Strategies in the Context of the 1980s|  year=2002 | publisher=Museum Ostdeutsche Galerie |location=Regensburg | isbn=961-90851-1-6}}
* {{cite book |editor-first=Inke|editor-last=Arns | title=Irwin: Retroprincip 1983-2003 |year=2003 | location=Frankfurt am Main |publisher=Revolver – Archiv für aktuelle Kunst | isbn=3-936919-56-9 }}
* {{cite book |first=Éric |last=Humbertclaude |author-link = Éric Humbertclaude |title=Empreintes : regards sur la création musicale contemporaine |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=L’Harmattan |year=2008 |isbn= 978-2-296-06979-4}}
* {{cite book|title=Ex YU rock enciklopedija 1960-2023 |last= Janjatović |first=Petar|author-link=Petar Janjatović| isbn=978-86-87115-49-1 |location=Belgrade |year=2024 |publisher=self-published / Makart|language=sr}}
* {{cite book |first=Alexei |last=Monroe |url=https://archive.org/details/interrogationmac0000monr |title=Interrogation Machine – Laibach and NSK |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-262-63315-4 |url-access=registration }}. Foreword by [[Slavoj Žižek]].
* {{cite news |first=Richard |last=Wolfson |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3601856/Warriors-of-weirdness.html |title=Warriors of weirdness |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=4 September 2003 |access-date=31 August 2012 |archive-date=5 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205093612/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3601856/Warriors-of-weirdness.html |url-status=live }}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000780506}}
* {{discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0481744}}

{{Laibach}}
{{Trbovlje |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Slovenian rock music groups]]
[[Category:Slovenian industrial music groups]]
[[Category:Slovenian dark wave musical groups]]
[[Category:Slovenian post-punk music groups]]
[[Category:Yugoslav rock music groups]]
[[Category:Yugoslav musical groups]]
[[Category:Industrial rock musical groups]]
[[Category:Musical quintets]]
[[Category:Mute Records artists]]
[[Category:Wax Trax! Records artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1980]]
[[Category:Trbovlje]]