Vehemency
Widomar’s first and last album, Het Land det Katharer, was a nice French finding. I have no idea where this album has been hidden for the last five years, but I am very happy to finally possess it.
Consisting of eight tracks, Het Land det Katharer is barely even 30 minutes in length, but this is compensated in quality compositions. Menacing riffs that are far from anything overly fast fit well to the airy production: VilwolfHeim’s instruments breathe well and Seigneur Widomar’s masculine growls work perfectly, though what comes to the lyrics, I don’t understand most of them: only one song on the album is performed in English. Interesting riffs appear all the time and to avoid an overabundance of belligerent black metal, breakdowns appear every now and then. The pattern is similar to Peste Noire and, in fact, I would highly recommend this album for the fans of the aforementioned band.
To name standout moments, ”Graal” has probably the most memorable main riff going around the whole song, it’s a tastefully done, simple and somewhat dissonant tune. Also worth of mentioning are the sudden cleanly sung chants of ”Sept Cent Trente Deux”, but all in all, Het Land det Katharer is strong from the beginning to the end. Nothing exceptional, but definitely enjoyable, and it’s a shame it turned out to be their only release.