Formed in Stockholm in 2017, Śmierć initially set out to play straight and melodic d-beat, guided by the punk roots of guitarist/vocalist Krisse and singer Ninka’s fascination with the Polish scene of the 80s and 90s. The band quickly moved past rigid boundaries, layering in influences from parallel genres and pushing the music into more open, atmospheric territory.
This approach is evident on their third album, Opór, which means “resistance.” Released by the veteran Polish imprint Nikt Nic Nie Wie label—whose influence on Central European punk stretches back to 1989—and in the US by San Francisco-based Prank Records, this new work distorts and amplifies Śmierć’s core d-beat sound while diving into themes of collective grief, rebellion, and hope.
Opór was recorded and mixed at The Dustward with Stefan Brandström in the spring of 2024. They wanted to highlight the global aspect of punk’s DIY culture by inviting guest vocalists from around the world. The track “Uffe,” for instance, features Patrik Arve (also known as Swedish Tiger from Teddybears Sthlm). Having already released two albums, Śmierć invested far more time and care into Opór, insisting on perfecting every vocal and instrument take, stacking multiple guitar tones until they achieved a heavy but still raw sound.
The lyrics, performed in multiple languages, trace a progression from mourning through reflection and ultimately to a sense of tentative solidarity. As Ninka notes, the new material aims to strip away genre restrictions. A spark of that mentality also shows up in the record’s artwork by Kaska Niemiro, who has worked with the band from the start. The earthy colors, streaks of red and gold, and an underlying “kintsugi” spirit all point to flaws being celebrated rather than concealed.
Śmierć is poised to keep moving forward into 2025 with festival appearances in Europe and a brief Australian tour.
The group also remains keenly connected to the Swedish DIY community, calling attention to independent venues like Cyklopen and Kafé 44 in Stockholm, and newer bands such as Rawheads and Spårfel who share stages with longstanding acts like Misantropic.
Though life commitments—work, children, and distance—play a role in shaping their involvement, they see this interconnected punk network as an essential space to build alternative lifestyles off the grid of commercialized culture.
Below, you’ll find the full interview, which includes a more detailed discussion of each track, reflections on the DIY scene, and the band’s plans. Before that, here are the paraphrased questions you can use to introduce the band’s answers in a more casual way:
How did Śmierć come together, and what changed in your sound and approach from the early days until now?
K= Krisse, N= Ninka
K: We started in the spring of 2017 with the intention of playing straight and melodic d-beat. We soon found us astray from that path though. We still play d-beat and it’s quite melodic, but pretty far from straight. We take inspiration from a wide variety of music and that really shows in the final product. We try not to limit us and put ourselves in a tight box and instead have the attitude that anything could fit in a Śmierć song. This constructs a very open and creative environment. I think this especially comes through in our new album Opór. We have really grown as a band and have been able to create our own sound, but we’re still avoiding the box and keep an open mind into what this band could be and become.
N: And just to follow up on Krisse’s answer. Having played punk for more than half our lives, we have been through most of the riffs and most of the change of beats and yes, we wanted to add nuances of parallel genres to a genre we have in our DNA – Scandinavian D-beat punk. When reflecting on our first two albums, we felt as if we had still been holding back a bit, but with Opór we hope that you can hear a frailty in the music coming from the quest for making music with no boundaries.
Can you talk about the central ideas behind Opór—particularly the grief and resistance aspect—and how they shaped the album?
N: Our third album is titled Opór; a word that translates to “resistance”. The listener is taken on a journey that begins with a collective grief. This sorrow often grows into a murmur; a slow, subdued mumble. A murmur that increases into higher voices. Voices that become a collective roar, turning into a resistance that demands the outside world to stop and take notice.
K: The music and the now multilingual lyrics have been woven together in an attempt to create a stream of consciousness. Here we begin by collectively cleaning the walls after the latest kitchen fight. We go through the injustices of the world, question ourselves, confront our past, honor those who came before us and perhaps, just perhaps, we can cautiously approach a common future.
A side
Uffe
When we have cleaned the walls from the stains of our latest argument, and we have placed the childhood in a pretty box. Perhaps we can sit down together and figure out how to create a better way forward?
The song starts with a synth arpeggio, drives through blasting d-beat and ends up in a crescendo with a whole bunch of guest vocals by friends from all over the world.
Krew
There is a reason for the UN’s Universal Declaration of the human rights. It was written to protect our right to rebel against tyranny and oppression.
You who have broken the laws of war! You who have tortured and murdered! You will never be able to escape from the voices of the ones who have loved. The blood may have dried on our wounds, but the pain has nailed itself deep inside.
The song starts with eerie sounding organ, moves on to the declaration of the human rights to finally erupt in d-beat mayhem.
Listen
So, my friend, my kindred spirit, are you ready to listen now? What will we become when we step outside of what is immediately comfortable for us?
Short (for being us) and to the point. Doomy intro, then no fuss (but lots of fuzz) d-beat punk!
Razem
The landscapes change, our hearts sing with different voices, but we need to dance. We need to find unity in what is disparate.
The only song on the album (and first ever for us) with no d-beat! This takes more inspiration from anarchopunk and new wave I guess.
Prawda.
Times are dark. It is dark. Dark. I promise I will stay with you until dawn.
This song has been released before as an EP in 2022. We re-recorded it and finally got it to what it was supposed to sound like. The intro is slower and darker. Some of our finest work.
B side
Das Unheimliche
This song is a journey down into a bag filled with childhood toys. In the most emotionally charged object from childhood, there is a power that doesn’t need
to possess our present.
For the intro of this song we sampled Krisse’s daughters toy piano. It sounds like something from an old horror movie and we love this! The thought behind this intro is something that starts out nice and a little bit like a lullaby, but then gradually becomes more unpleasant. Like some evil slowly creeping up on you. And all of a sudden the song explodes as the drums and strings kick in.
Kto
We have experienced an escalating wave of gunfights and children killing children in Sweden the last couple of years. You feel the world becoming more uncertain. That violence is creeping closer. But who controls the narrative?
Straight on d-beat punk with catchy guitars and melodic vocals.
Kuren
They will never own us!! Just forget about it, OK?!
N: Another short one that we re-recorded for this album. Simple and a live show favorite. Fun facts I guess is that I pretended to be Martin Sorrondeguy when recording the vocals. Now that’s a picture for you! Hahaha
The Song
Sing the songs of the ones who can no longer sing. Listen to the ones who are singing. Take part and build the new. But what if I die with a song hidden inside my throat?
For the last song of the album we wanted to do something grand. This song is constructed with many different parts and the objective is to take the listener on a journey of emotions that hopefully ends with a feeling of hope as the acapella choir outro comes to an end.
You collaborated with Kaska Niemiro again for the cover. What’s important to you about that visual element, and how does it tie in with the record’s message?
N: We have worked closely with Kaska Niemiro (@perfectly_possessed on Instagram) since our first release. As we wanted to stray a little from our usual path in music, we wanted to make sure this was reflected in the artwork too. I feel very strongly about these things as communication is the word that best describes my angle when approaching music, art, literature, fashion etc.
How do we connect? What makes us get together? Why do I feel the way I do when looking at a picture? We began working with Kaska just because we love her art – you know, it’s just not another skull kind of art – and just as with the music it was not until the third record we were truly able to be clear about what we wanted. We asked Kaska to make the artwork dark. The red and gold she added turned out to create the notion of a pounding heart, but also adding a flavour of the kintsugi philosophy, where you celebrate the human flaws by mending objects with gold.
The earthy colours used in all three covers (and t-shirts!) are to me a representation of the grounding sensation in the lyrics, where the train of thought often starts in a domestic environment. A mother’s pondering over her son, gathering the group around the kitchen table, singing the songs of the oppressed sisters who can no longer sing.
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What are your next steps, plans, and hopes for the project in 2025?
K: This new album just got released on Nikt Nic Nie Wie here in Europe and Prank in the US. This is an album that we’ve worked so much harder on than ever before. We made a promise to ourselves to not settle for anything until we felt like every vocal take and every instrument sounded just like we wanted it to. For most songs there’s at least 4 different guitar sounds mixed together to accomplish the sound we were after. Massive, but still punk and in your face. We recorded on and off for 3 months at a studio here in Stockholm.
In 2025 we just wanna play. We have a few shows booked in Sweden and also some festivals in different parts of Europe this coming summer. In the late fall we’ll hit Australia for a 10 day tour! We are super excited about what the future will bring us.
N: Yes! We just want to come out and play. Every show is an opportunity connect with others, to listen to other peoples experiences and to learn. All through music, a longing for a world outside of the utter commercialized now and through curiosity in other people. I can’t wait to travel again!
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What is your perspective on the Swedish punk and DIY community right now? Which venues, bands, or labels do you think are worth highlighting?
N: This is a lovely question! As we are all born in the 1970’s we have responsibilities such as children and work, and this might reflect our immediate involvement in the scene. With this being said, we do all love to get out to see bands and I think that the DYI scene can play a very important role in the years to come.
The political climate is changing rapidly and I believe we need to create a stronger alternative offline and build communities that can offer an amazing alternative lifestyle.
The last few years I have started seeing more kids at the shows, both in the bands and in the crowd. We are seeing bands like Rawheads and Spårfel from the Stockholm area, mixed with Gefyr and Kronofogden from Hudiksvall and older bands like Misantropic from Umeå getting more powerful for each show. The Göteborg scene is always strong with bands like Contorture and Vicious Irene just coming back from touring Brazil.
In Stockholm we have a couple of independent venues such as the DIY house Cyklopen, the recordstore and label Push My Buttons that have shows from time to time and also the longtime autonomous all ages venue Kafé 44, which seems to be on the rise again with fresh blood from the younger generations.
