First released in the year 1986 Nova Akropola was the second studio album from Slovenian/ Yugoslav avant-garde music collective Laibach. It saw the project offering up a  sinisterly jarring, often disconcerting, at points downright demonic blend of martial beats, fascist-like chants, sampled orchestration/ horn work, unnerving samples, and deep guttural vocals. It’s a record that still sounds urgent, unpredictable and surprisingly undated. Here from Cherry Red is a recent three-CD reissue of the album- with the original album being presented alongside two discs worth of live performances of album tracks from over the years.

The three CDs come presented in a flip-side monochrome box- each CD comes in a card sleeve. Also featured is a sixteen-page inlay booklet- taking in lyrics, a new write-up about the album/ band, and a fair selection of band pictures.
 
Nova Akropola was first released on February 8th 1986 on Cherry Red, and I can well imagine it was highly impactful for those who first heard it- as it cemented a wholly original, malevolent, powerful, and at points frightening sound. The original album takes in ten tracks in total- and it remains varied, often jarring, and unpredictable throughout.
 
The whole thing kicks off with the track “Vier Personen” which ties together samples of male chants & jack boot snaps, darting & bounding dark piano runs, and cold snapping beats. There's “Krvava Gruda - Plodna Zemlja” which sets deep 'n' demonic guttural vocals against a backdrop chopping orchestral synth tones, looped laughter & distant wails, with metal rattling/ grating samples.
 
Moving into the album's second half we move from the sinister stomping slam ‘n’ churn of “Die Liebe” with its thick blend of billowing horn samples, slamming to smarting beats, bombastic/ distorted orchestration, and shouting/ chanting Germanic-like vocals. There’s “Vade Retro” with its stabbing keys, backwards/ forwards vocal strew, and sudden discordant organ darts.  With the album playing out with  “Degree” which mixes hissing ‘n’ slaming beats, distant uneasy crowd chant, with tight sampled orchestral stabs.

The second disc in the set features seven live renditions of album tracks- these date from between 1997 and 2020- with the tracks still managing to keep their urgency and unequalness. The third disc in the set takes in nine tracks- with eight of these being from 1985 when the band played Bloomsbury Theatre- and it’s great to hear the album tracks in slightly cruder at points intense form. All the live recordings on both discs are largely very good, and it’s certainly interesting to hear these live renditions.

Thirty-eight years on Nova Akropola still upholds its feeling of both stern urgency and sinister disquiet. And it’s certainly wonderful to get this new three-disc boxset- bringing together the original album with two discs worth of live renditions.