Stele: Upiór

Stele is a duo formed by vocalist and sound artist Zosia Hołubowska (Mala Herba, Sounds Queer?) and drummer and graphic designer Daniel Szwed (BNNT, Hiss Collective). The project emerged from their collaboration on two tracks from Szwed's album Splinter (Rope Worm, 2025).

Szwed's ritualistic approach to rhythm, industrial samples, and prepared percussion merge with Hołubowska's vocal techniques that range between witchy wailing and punk screams. The result is a hazy, distorted sound that induces trance-like states.

Stele draws from the DIY and underground scene, sharing its political sensitivity and affinity for darkness and wildness. Their current material revolves around the figure of the upiór - a two-hearted demon from Polish folklore - which the duo frames as a vessel for queer rage and revenge.