The new Cnoc an Tursa album ‘The Forty Five’ was released 17 February 2017 via Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings. You can buy a copy of ‘The Forty Five’ here.

Cnoc An Tursa are a 4 piece Celtic metal band from Falkirk Scotland consisting of;

Reni Mcdonald Hill – Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Alan Buchan – Guitars – Vocals
Tony Dunn- Bass – Vocals
Bryan Hamilton – Drums

The album was mixed by Scott Mclean and stem mastered by Scott Atkins @ Grindstone studios.

The Forty Five is a concept album based on Bonny Prince Charlie and the Jacobite uprising of 1745 also known as The Forty Five.

This album features Reni on main vocals whereas the first album was Alan. This is first album with Tony Dunn in the band after his departure from Falloch. We spoke to the band about the record:

Alan:

“We had been discussing which direction the new album should take and I posed the question about trying a concept album, and Reni immediately thought about the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie.”

Reni:

“It was the first thing that came to mind, and the direction of the music that had been written so far seemed to fit really well, so we started researching the history from that point on.”

Bryan:

“The events of the Jacobite rising are a part of Scottish history that could produce 100 albums!”

Reni:

“We wanted to experiment with a more progressive approach, longer songs and more melodic vocals. We also wanted to write songs that were faster than the first album, with a lot more blast beats utilised, and incorporate gang vocals or chants to mix in well with the melodies.”

Tony:

“Reni had some great ideas already down on paper for the melodic parts of the songs, and every clean vocal section wrote itself once the structure was put in place. “

Alan:

“The songs were pretty basic on the first album, we wanted to branch out and try new styles.”