Svaveldioxid – Främmande Samtid Skrämmande Framtid

Since 2015, Sweden’s Svaveldioxid have been punishing my eardrums with unstoppable force. The band was formed by veterans with pedigrees in bands like Disfear and Warvictims, among other Scandinavian jawbreakers. From their debut Ändlös Mardröm (2015) to Världselände (2023) and countless splits, they’ve carried forward a tradition of brutal, hard-stomping kängpunk sharpened by the occasional whiff of death metal.

Ten years in the trenches, there’s no reinvention of their sound on their latest 10-inch, Främmande Samtid, Skrämmande Framtid (roughly translating to “Alienating Present, Frightening Future”), and I didn’t expect there to be. Honestly, I gave this enough spins looking for cracks in the formula, but there’s just nothing worth complaining about.

Eight tracks, recorded at the legendary Sunlight Studio with Tomas Skogsberg, and yes, you can feel the chainsaw heritage of Sunlight in every chord. The HM-2 is abused so thoroughly that it practically begs for forgiveness. Instead, the band answers with another savage blow. “Vittne Till Bomben” sets the tone straight off. Flashes of death metal ornamentation swirl around a d-beat backbone so mercilessly that you can practically smell the rust. The band’s singer, Jocke Andersson, has ranted more than once, even commenting on my reviews of other bands, about how most bands these days barely know how to play proper d-beat. While I don’t necessarily agree with him, I admire how Svaveldioxid has been one of the best in the genre with unrelenting conviction.

The death metal influences are never allowed to take over, which is something these Swedes have absolutely nailed across their discography. If anything, they use those elements like good seasoning, keeping the kängpunk roots proudly upfront. “Blodig Protest” is a prime example. It has a brick-heavy riff that is never polished or clinical, held together by obliterating vocal aggression that makes it sound like Jocke is trying to drag your ears through the war zone. Speaking of war zones, I must mention the cover art as well. It’s a nightmarish collage of crumbling buildings, mass graves, weeping children, and rotting skulls, stitched together in that instantly recognizable crust punk aesthetic. But they don’t do it for a cheap shock value. This is a direct commentary on geopolitics, with images of displacement and genocide in Gaza, bombed-out ruins, and funeral shrouds that sting all the harder given the current tensions in the world. As ever, Svaveldioxid show no interest in sanitizing reality.

The B-side rips with heavyweights like “Satans Psalm” and “Krigsglorifiering,” two utterly brutal råpunk anthems that stomp on your neck and grin about it. Even the blackened flourishes, borrowed back from a genre that once stole them from punk to begin with, work more like rough-edged texture than any sort of style shift. That’s what keeps Svaveldioxid as leaders in today’s oversaturated, sometimes uninspired d-beat scene. They are still firmly of the tradition, not just borrowing its imagery for social cred. And then there’s Jocke’s voice. It’s as savage as ever, urgent, pissed, and showing no signs of remorse. Though I don’t speak Swedish, I get the sense that the lyrics come from the gut as much as the head, as if he is personally disgusted by every fresh atrocity we keep watching roll through the news feed.

If you were hoping for something hasn’t done before, you’re going to be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for a lethal dose of intense kängpunk that highlights the Swedish band’s role in maintaining punk’s aggression, relevance, and political integrity, Främmande Samtid, Skrämmande Framtid is exactly what you need. Svaveldioxid have spent a decade perfecting this scorched-earth recipe, and the result is their strongest release to date. Jocke might be pissed that most bands have forgotten how to do this the “right” way, and I can’t deny he’s earned the right to say it. Svaveldioxid are still doing it the right way. The world is still fucked, the bombs still fall, and we still need bands like this to soundtrack the collapse of our civilization.

And with Misär O.D., the band’s brand new album lurking on the horizon via Phobia Records this fall, you can bet Svaveldioxid will be ready to drag us even deeper into the ruins.