Eight years on from their last album, The Forty Five, Scotland’s Cnoc An Tursa have returned with an evocative tribute to the history, the folklore, the unique magic of their homeland. With their characteristic blend of fierce black metal and traditional melodies they have conjured up a set of songs that bring together mourning and defiance, mystery and fear, pride and passion. It is rare for a band to return from years of silence with an album that represents a new creative peak in their story, but with A Cry For The Slain that is exactly what Cnoc An Tursa have achieved. Speaking about their aims with this album, the band have said,
"With this new album we feel like we are going back to our roots with a more guitar driven style and bringing back some of the folk elements musically and lyrically which was the original inspiration for the band."
And by looking back they have found the way forward, reigniting their fire and forging an album that will resonate through the years to come.
‘Na Fir Ghorma’ with its haunting guitar notes and sense of dignity and sorrow opens the door to A Cry For The Slain, ushering you into the furious opening blast of ‘The Caoineag’. Steeped in bardic tradition and storytelling this majestic track introduces the listener to a highland banshee who foretells death and tragedy and sings her laments beside the deep lochs and chill waterfalls. With the Caoineag’s song atmosphere rises like mountain mists, enshrouding and transporting while the captivating melodies conjured by Cnoc An Tursa lead us into a different world. ‘Cailleach And The Guardians Of The Seven Stones’ is a magnificent, sweeping tribute to the goddess of winter who shapes the landscape with her hammer, the ghost of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Emerald’ dancing in its Gaelic reels. A stunning guitar solo adorns the multifaceted track that captures the power, allure, mystery and terror of the blood thirsty ‘Baobhan Sith’, while the thundering energy of ‘Am Fear Liath Mòr’ takes you to the mountain passes of the Cairngorms, haunted by a giant presence…“I can hear the footsteps behind me, I can see the Big Grey Man”… And nestled amongst all the stories and ‘Address To The Devil’s epic dark poetry, we find first single, ‘Alba In My Heart’ – a pledge of allegiance, a song of devotion to Cnoc An Tursa’s beloved Scotland. There’s a raised fist and a strength of spirit in the blood stirring melodies and the rolling rhythms, in the riffs tumbling down like mountain streams. The authenticity of emotion in this song is undeniable. By the time ‘The Nine Maidens Of Dundee’ leads us down from the peaks once more, with a head full of dreams and a belief that magic may still exist in the less travelled glens of the northlands, the sheer power of Cnoc An Tursa’s return has become abundantly clear. A Cry For The Slain is a breathtaking album, a beacon burning in the night of mundane modernity, calling to those of us who want more than we’ve been sold.
With the intuitive mastering of Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Primordial, Hexvessel etc) bringing depth and vigour to every note, A Cry For The Slain smoulders with sonic intensity and all the emotion and secrets of its narrative are captured in the evocative artwork of Olga Kann (Winteria, Withered Land, Ruadh etc) that adorns its cover. Apocalyptic Witchcraft will release this monumental album on April 24th and the defiant cry of Cnoc An Tursa will echo through the landscape once more.
