Track Premiere: Maldisdeun – A2WD
A straight up cobalt bomb of death/doom
If you, like me, have read way too much Wikipedia in a pessimistic, doomer mood, you might know that militaries consider nuclear weapons “Area-Denial Weapons” because their strategic value is not just destroying an area but making it completely uninhabitable. And a cobalt bomb is one designed to prolong the fallout as much as possible, basically making it the first theoretical weapon that could render Earth, or most of it, unlivable for humans. It was essentially the first realistic doomsday weapon, a world-denial weapon. Death/doom newcomers Maldisdeun might not have been thinking of a cobalt bomb when they recorded A2WD, short for Anti-Access World Denial, but they definitely captured the spirit of the horror surrounding them. Interchanging frantic bursts between passages of slow-burn doom descent, the song sounds like the gasp-then-slow-exhale that make up the last breaths of a doomed, dying human race. As they explain it:
In this song, a final war sets out between pariah slaves, evolved humans, and dethroned patriarchs – each party believing their victory and ensuing dominance over society will be for the greater good. Unbeknownst to them, the same chemical reaction that kickstarted the next stage of human evolution also activates the sentience of the Earth. Mother Nature ultimately decides to make herself uninhabitable to humanity in order to prevent any more suffering her children will surely inflict upon each other. A mercy suicide to thwart the cruelest species our world has ever known.
Their album Anti-Access World Denial comes out November 3rd. Grab it on Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify or your favorite more-ethical streaming service.
