Terminal 1 Club, Sofia

March 24th 2018 

 

Words by: Nikola Shahpazov, photos: Orleff

GALLERY

 

It might come off as an awful cliché yet it is the God-given truth – each LAIBACH gig in Sofia is not your casual Staurday night concert but an audio-visual feast of industrial poetry and noisy splendour. Never affected by the ever rotating band cast or the changes in the music industry, LAIBACH are just as perfect as they were 14 years ago on their first ever concert here – expectedly so yet ever so unexpected in their deliverance. 

 

Thing is, you can never be prepared for what they’ve planned for you. And it matters little whether you’ve seen them live before or whether you’ve already seen thousands of other concerts anyway. LAIBACH are here to shatter all your know-it-all expectations with industrial hammering and a haughty smirk, just to show you that real, impressive as Hell music is not only possible but right here for us all – prophetic, retro-avantgarde and unmerciful in a very LAIBACH-ian way.

 

 

Live performance has always been just as integral part of the whole LAIBACH experience as studio output, so it comes as a little surprise that in 2018 they’re relying on all modern technology could provide – the grand backdrop of sound, great light show and splendid video screen animations give the tracks another level of intensity.

 

Still, they want you to know just where they’re coming from. These days LAIBACH are still very electronic, pseudo-totalitarian and very, very heavily industrial – like in the glorious 80s but with a welcome twist. After all, their latest release ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’ is just that – a real throwback to oldschool minimalism and a nod to the times of old, when atmosphere and detail were much more important than slick studio sound.

 

Just as expected, the gig kicks off with all the tracks from their Nietzsche inspired release presented in the album order but in arrangements that differ greatly from the cold atmosphere of the recordings – after all, they’re being presented by a full blooded band complete with guitars, drums and two sets of keyboards. Frontman Milan Fras recites Nietzsche’s texts with his usual croon while we’re submerged in the great ambience of 'Das Glück', ‘Ein Verkündiger’ and ‘Das Nachtlied’.

 

 

It is full-blown retro industrial from then on when Fras is joined on stage by the absolutely fantastic Mina Špiler for a spin of LAIBACH industrial classics like ‘Brat Moj’ and 'Ti, Ki Izzivaš’. These are some of the most glorious and grand moments of this particular eveng, reminding us strongly of the band’s epic 2012 performance at Tate Modern, later released as the live album ‘Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde’.

 

We’re, of course up for more of the same and wouldn’t mind hearing ‘Smrt za smrt’ but are instead served with the cover ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’, the techno stomper ‘Tanz mit Laibach’ and a darkly delighting mix of ‘Opus Dei’ and ‘Leben Heißt Leben’,

 

We expected it to be great. It was actually greater for LAIBACH simply conquer us with their good old ‘Blitzkrieg’ sound, assimilating us completely and unapologetically. Just like the first time. The second. Just like every given time.