Argentina’s Ataudes have returned with their second full length offering entitled ‘Tempus Edax Rerum’, their first release in five years. The band’s debut from 2020 had an impressive amount of reissues from different labels, so I was looking forward to digging into their next Death Metal monolith.
‘Tempus Edax Rerum’ exists across seven songs (including one short intro song) at just under 45 minutes in length, meaning each song is longer than six minutes, with most in the seven minute range. Soft skinned and weak brained listeners need not read further. There are no short earworms for anyone to chew into here. This is top tier, forward thinking and challenging music for the literate Death Metal fans of the underground.
Ataudes uses swelling dynamics to their advantage, frequently moving from stop and go style Death Metal breaks, guitar solos and Doom laden passages that lurk and churn to take their time crushing the listeners skull through whatever method of torture they please. Not to mention, the performance across this whole release is performed with splendid accuracy and technical prowess which is all highlighted by a very balanced production.
The atmosphere is quite suffocating at nearly every moment. Numbing even, in a way that causes the listener to get lost and drift from song to song, as if being pulled asunder in the same waves conjured by the wraith on the cover.
Ataudes is one of the rare bands that I feel can do no wrong. Like Dead Congregation, they masterfully exercise a wide array of Death Metal weaponry to craft a classy and regal experience for the few worthy listeners. This is a wildly interesting Death Metal album which demands the attention of modern era Gorguts, Krypts, Ritual Necromancy and early Blood Incantation.
