Stewart
Active Member
Great news for fans of Slovenian po-faced industrial techno neo-classicists, Laibach: they're back! This fantastic band have always had a way with cover songs, having covered Opus' Life Is Life (subverting the intent), Queen's One Vision (translating it to German to exploit the ambiguity of the lyrics), The Beatles' Let It Be (the album, not the song), and The Rolling Stones' Sympathy For The Devil (seven times!). Amongst many others.
This time round they've dispensed with cover songs and decided to reimagine a selection of national anthems. The nations, of course, are the big players on the world stage, so we have the following tracks: Germania, America, Anglia, Rossiya, Francia, Italia, España, Yisra'el, Türkiye, Zhonghua, Nippon, and Vaticanae. The other two tracks are the band's national anthem , Slovania, and literally the band's national anthem NSK, being of the State in Time created by Laibach back in the nineties.
The tracks all take their inspiration from the national anthem of the aforementioned nations. So we have The Star Spangled Banner putting in a show for America; God Save The Queen for Anglia; Das Lied der Deutschen for Germania. And so on.
Musically, Volk (meaning 'people', if you didn't know), is a radical change of direction for Laibach. Gone are the raucous guitars of the Jesus Christ Superstar album; gone are the technoclassical flourishes of NATO. The reason for this is rather simple: Laibach didn't compose the music. Instead that duty was performed by Slovenian producers, Silence. And what a job they've done.
The music features slow and gritty industrial percussion mixed with live orchestrations (pianos, strings) and, on top of Milan Fras' trademark gruff bowels-of-Hell voice, there are multi-layerings of vocals from a variety of guest vocalists, usually singing in the language of the referenced country. Silence main man, Boris Benko crops up on the majority of tracks too, adding his own voice for added texture.
Then there's the focus of the songs. Volk is supposed to be Laibach's comment on pop culture, and I suppose by making their new anthems all in English there is the comment about a global language pushed by culture and media so that all the other countries are following by having their nationality defined in English. The sleevenotes, containing a series of quotes about the English language, would appear to corroborate that. But it's politics that seem to be the order of the day here and why not, given that it's what Laibach do best?
Anglia looks at the English perception of greatness, despite the failing empire. Yisra'el uses the chorus of the Palestinian national anthem to lay claim to the land. Francia, based on its lyrics, would appear to recall the recent cultural riots in Paris. No nation included here escapes the critical watch of Laibach. Except, of course, the NSK State, which they vow to protect at all costs.
A word about the packaging. The limited edition book version of the CD contains thirty-two pages featuring a handwritten history of each anthem included coupled with reproductions of watercolour paintings. (Or, given that much of their work is cover versions, Laibach originals.) There's many interesting facts to be found within. (Did you know the first Japanese national anthem was originally proposed by an Irishman? Or that the anthems of Liechtenstein and Norway both share the composition of the United Kingdom's?) Sadly, there's no lyrics available within, although I believe the non-limited edition contains them.
Given it's originality, I'd have to put Volk up there with the best of Laibach. It's full of musical gems, stunning compositions, and maintains its theme throughout. Some of the tracks are instantly likeable (such as the first single, Anglia) while others have that feeling of growability that, with repeated listening, become special. Music for the people: that's all Volks!
If you fancy listening to a few of the tracks off Volk then you can hear them on Laibach's My Space page. The songs listed there are America, Anglia, España, and Slovania. But, if you are going to give the rather excellent Anglia a listen, it's best to do so by watching the accompanying video.
This time round they've dispensed with cover songs and decided to reimagine a selection of national anthems. The nations, of course, are the big players on the world stage, so we have the following tracks: Germania, America, Anglia, Rossiya, Francia, Italia, España, Yisra'el, Türkiye, Zhonghua, Nippon, and Vaticanae. The other two tracks are the band's national anthem , Slovania, and literally the band's national anthem NSK, being of the State in Time created by Laibach back in the nineties.
The tracks all take their inspiration from the national anthem of the aforementioned nations. So we have The Star Spangled Banner putting in a show for America; God Save The Queen for Anglia; Das Lied der Deutschen for Germania. And so on.
Musically, Volk (meaning 'people', if you didn't know), is a radical change of direction for Laibach. Gone are the raucous guitars of the Jesus Christ Superstar album; gone are the technoclassical flourishes of NATO. The reason for this is rather simple: Laibach didn't compose the music. Instead that duty was performed by Slovenian producers, Silence. And what a job they've done.
The music features slow and gritty industrial percussion mixed with live orchestrations (pianos, strings) and, on top of Milan Fras' trademark gruff bowels-of-Hell voice, there are multi-layerings of vocals from a variety of guest vocalists, usually singing in the language of the referenced country. Silence main man, Boris Benko crops up on the majority of tracks too, adding his own voice for added texture.
Then there's the focus of the songs. Volk is supposed to be Laibach's comment on pop culture, and I suppose by making their new anthems all in English there is the comment about a global language pushed by culture and media so that all the other countries are following by having their nationality defined in English. The sleevenotes, containing a series of quotes about the English language, would appear to corroborate that. But it's politics that seem to be the order of the day here and why not, given that it's what Laibach do best?
Anglia looks at the English perception of greatness, despite the failing empire. Yisra'el uses the chorus of the Palestinian national anthem to lay claim to the land. Francia, based on its lyrics, would appear to recall the recent cultural riots in Paris. No nation included here escapes the critical watch of Laibach. Except, of course, the NSK State, which they vow to protect at all costs.
A word about the packaging. The limited edition book version of the CD contains thirty-two pages featuring a handwritten history of each anthem included coupled with reproductions of watercolour paintings. (Or, given that much of their work is cover versions, Laibach originals.) There's many interesting facts to be found within. (Did you know the first Japanese national anthem was originally proposed by an Irishman? Or that the anthems of Liechtenstein and Norway both share the composition of the United Kingdom's?) Sadly, there's no lyrics available within, although I believe the non-limited edition contains them.
Given it's originality, I'd have to put Volk up there with the best of Laibach. It's full of musical gems, stunning compositions, and maintains its theme throughout. Some of the tracks are instantly likeable (such as the first single, Anglia) while others have that feeling of growability that, with repeated listening, become special. Music for the people: that's all Volks!
If you fancy listening to a few of the tracks off Volk then you can hear them on Laibach's My Space page. The songs listed there are America, Anglia, España, and Slovania. But, if you are going to give the rather excellent Anglia a listen, it's best to do so by watching the accompanying video.
