"The Land of Rape and Honey": The Use of World War II Propaganda in the Music Videos of Ministry and Laibach

Abstract

is a loud, powerful and often shocking style of avantgarde popular music. It is constructed from mechanical rhythms, harsh and distorted timbres, and dark minor key or modal harmonies, all of which contribute to the creation of a dystopian soundscape. This brutal postapocalyptic attitude is not produced, however, by the music alone. The visual images that accompany these Industrial bands during their live performances, and in their music videos, work with the music to design environments resembling a futuristic urban wasteland. These visual images frequently contain distorted scenes of riots or warfare, pictures of cogs, hammers, robots, or soldiers. These images, and others like them, evoke the imagery of World War II propaganda in their visual style and composition, which make use of bold colors, sharp lines, scenes of mass spectacles, and military themes. It is also quite common to find images that are directly related to World War II propaganda that promoted fascist ideologies or, more specifically, the German National Socialist, or Nazi, political party. Many Industrial bands claim that these images are used solely for shock value, to send a political message to their audiences about the social systems in their respective countries and the evils of disguised fascism and totalitarianism in general. There is often, however, a dis-