Live video of the song "Rossiya" by Laibach.




Laibach are a performance art group/band from Slovenia, in the former Yugoslavia. They started at as provacative dissidents in the early eighties, using over the top methods to criticize the Slovene state and Yugoslavia in general.

Paradoxically, the reason they weren't thrown in prison for this is because Slovenia was about the most liberal and tolerant area in terms of freedom of speech in the Eastern Bloc. Instead, they had some of their shows cancelled.

Because they're a performance art group that's part of a bigger organization known as NSK, it's really hard to summarize them. But, if you ever come across some Laibach related material.....I won't spoil the surprise, but just be warned that it's mostly put ons, although not for the thin skinned.

This video is from their new album "Volk", which takes the national anthems of ...12?...countries and redoes them in ways that either subtly or very obviously provide a critical commentary on the country and it's relation to nationalism, the critique of which is a running theme in Laibach. They're from Yugoslavia. Russia gets off pretty easily; the criticism is pretty subtle...but "United forever in Great Russia's embrace" might give a clue as to what they're saying.