APOCRYPHAL WOUND Mors Advenit Primis Diluculis in Tergo Equi Maledicti CD

Hailing from the Portuguese underground (Seixal), Apocryphal Wound released their debut full-length album, Mors Advenit Primis Diluculis in Tergo Equi Maledicti (Latin for Death Arrives at First Light on the Back of the Cursed Horse), in May 2025 via Prophetical Productions. This project is a striking entry into the Funeral Doom Metal scene, characterized by a profound exploration of metaphysical anguish, divine abandonment, and cosmic devastation. The band is a power trio of experienced musicians: Melkor (the multi-instrumentalist mastermind behind the project, known for his work in numerous underground projects), Semog Hulud (keyboards/atmospheres), and Beyonder (vocals, also known as Simão Santos, a veteran of the Portuguese scene with bands like Martelo Negro and Namek). The music is a dense, liturgical offering that balances punishing, slow-motion riffs with spectral, depressive keyboard arrangements and deep, harrowing guttural sermons. Despite the typical snail's pace of the funeral doom genre, the album remains engaging through its poetic brutality and shifts into more blackened or melodic territories. The album consists of three sprawling tracks: Desperatio est gladius qui carnem vitae perforat, Gladius flammeus angeli vindicis qui peccata mundi lavat (supplicium transcendens meretricum Babylonicarum), and Cœmeterium Quantum. With a limited CD release of only 200 copies, this record has quickly gained a reputation as a sound ritual for those who dare to gaze into the abyss. It stands as one of the most unique and ambitious releases in the recent Lusitanian dark metal landscape.