TEŠKA INDUSTRIJA was formed 1974 in Sarajevo, now Bosnia and Herzegovina, by keyboard player Gabor Lenđel. Original line-up also included guitar player Vedad Hadžiabdić, bassist Ivica Propadalo, drummer Senad Begović and singer Fadil Toskić. Poet Duško Trifunovic wrote most of the lyrics throughout their career. Seid Memić Vajta soon replaced Toskić as lead vocalist, while Sanin Karić replaced Propadalo on bass. This line-up was to gain most celebrity and they recorded several successful singles and the first album "Ho-ruk" in early 1976. The band developed a sort of "progressive hard rock" with elements of then popular traditional folk themes and "symphonic" arrangements. Lenđel's organ and Vajta's raspy baritone were trademarks of their sound. The end of 1976 saw major changes when new members, vocalist Goran Kovacević, bassist Aleksandar Kostić, drummer Munib Zoranić and another keyboardist Darko Arkus, recorded the eponymous second album. Lenđel left the band in late 1977 leaving the others to complete their third album in 1978. It failed to attract the public attention, so shortly Teška industrija disbanded. Kovacević joined Laza Ristovski and Ipe Ivandić who recorded an interesting simphonic prog album "Stižemo" and in the 1980s tried unsuccessfully to launch a solo career. Vajta, on the other hand, enjoyed enormous popularity throughout 1980s and 1990s as a pop singer and occasional TV actor. Hadžiabdić, as the only original member of Teška industrija, together with drummer Zoranić, made an attempt to revive the band in 1984 with new members, singer Narcis Lalić, bassist Sead Trnka and keyboardist Zoran Krga, but the resulting album "Ponovo s vama" was unsuccessful. The founder Lenđel worked many years as producer and arranger at Radio Novi Sad, Serbia, while during the 1990s moved to Budapest, Hungary. The final comeback of the band so far happened in 1996 when Hadžiabdić gathered another line-up, but again without any results worth mentioning, because the album "Ruže u asfaltu" was more pop than rock effort. In terms of prog rock recommendation, first two albums are worth listening especially if you like "heavy" side of prog (like Uriah Heep or Deep Purple), while two compilations available in CD format are also good overview of the band's career. (by Sead S. Fetahagić)
