The last time CNOC AN TURSA appeared on the pages of Metal Temple was eight years ago in 2017. Not because we're neglectful bastards but because that was the last time the band released an album. Well, the wait is over. On April 24, 2026, these Scottish purveyors of Folk/ Black Metal release their long anticipated third album, "A Cry for the Slain." Was it worth the wait? Well, if you've been literally waiting on this for eight years, that's kind of sad and you should probably seek help, but if we're just asking if this album is any good, the answer is a resounding yes.

Thematically, the band notes the album is "an evocative tribute to the history, the folklore, the unique magic of their homeland." And let's face it, the Scottish are pretty bad ass and so is their history and lore. And what better way to retell and interpret that lore than with Black Metal accented with generous inflections of Folk? As far as style, the band shares: "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." That pretty much nails it. I guess these blokes have a sense of who they are.

Track by track, you get the sense there's an ongoing narrative throughout the album, but that's more down to the internal consistency of the tracks than the lyrics. Each track seems to lead into the next and branches off from the former. Plenty of melody but not necessarily melodic. Also, they never verge into sing-song shanties which plague a lot of Folk Metal. Just good solid riffs and raspy vocals. There are some nuanced symphonic elements with layers of keyboard which give a sense of waves and tides and mist and cold. Just look at the album cover and you'll get the idea.  

Plenty of standout tracks. I'll lead with the opening track, "Na fir Ghorma" (trans: the blue men). I mean, the beginning is always a good starting point. This track steadily builds from atmospheric to haunting to epic. A perfect intro to the album. I also particularly enjoyed "Baobham Sith" with its discordant opening that feels a bit Prog but then deconstructs into a traditional folk interlude which surges back with a massive Black Metal assault. The whole approach lures you in then pivots here and there, drawing you deeper into the moor before the final kill. And, indeed, a Baobham Sith is a vampiric fae of Scottish lore, succubi that men and women both desire and fear.

"Cailleach and the Guardians of the Seven Stones" gets the award for longest title on the album. The band notes it's reminiscent of THIN LIZZY's "The Emerald" which you can certainly see but not in a derivative way, more like a tribute. Great track. "Am Fear Liath Mòr" (trans: the big gray man) is probably the most melodic of all the tracks, almost radio friendly, but damn if it isn't contagious as fuck. I can't help but to like it. I also want to give a nod to "Address to the Devil" which is equal parts destructive and restorative.

If "Address to the Devil" leaves you bruised and contused, the final track, "The Nine Maidens of Dundee," acts as a soothing Symphonic outro. The tale itself is about a farmer who sends his nine daughters, one after the other, to fetch water. Each of them is killed by a dragon who probably thought it was its luckiest day ever to have encountered a farmer who was as fertile as he was stupid. The story ends with some dude clubbing the dragon to death but the song, though instrumental, focuses on the daughters and their sad death. Anyway, nice closing track.  

Yeah, so quite an album, CNOC AN TURSA's "A Cry for the Slain." Also, a hell of comeback. I have to give credit to a star PR firm who penned the line "by looking back they have found the way forward." Marketing poetry that, but it really captures this album and the trajectory of this band perfectly.