The Forty Five

Refreshing to see a band write about Scottish history who are actually fucking Scottish. This band from Falkirk have been knocking about for roughly a decade, and this is their second disc of highly melodic Black/Folk Metal. Cnoc an Tursa have rather standard arrangements, carrying their songs on their really first-rate guitar harmonies rather than innovative songwriting. The vocals are a rather dry rasp without a lot of features, and there are not a lot of folk instruments here besides some whistles now and then. It's the melodic guitar work that sells this, with folk-fueled riffs and really hooky playing. This is really polished and well-played folky Black Metal with a lot of melody and flair. It's not doing anything you have not heard before, but it's doing it well.