The band has been active for the last 10 years, but no new album was released during that period. In the meanwhile, fiddler Ana Dokic left the band in 2009 and Nikola Stenojavic joined in. Bojan Petrovic, member of Irish Stew of Sindidun, replaced Dejan Popin in 2010 and recorded the whistles on “Many Mouths Shout” before leaving Orthodox Celts in June 2016.

A couple of singles were advanced in March 2014, “Save Me”, and March 2015, “One / Milk Honey”. However, “Many Mouths Shut” was released in January 2017 on the band’s own label O’Celts Records. Taking into account the band’s evolution, the fans would expect an album full of originals. Nevertheless, Orthodox Celts have taken another direction and “Many Mouths Shut” consists of 7 self-penned songs and 6 covers. Curiously, they’ve taken an approach similar to that of traditional bands: song, tunes, song, tunes. Even if most of the tunes have a traditional sound more than a Celtic-rock sound, they are played alone. That is, there are not set of tunes, but only short tunes.

My fave original songs are “I Wish You the Very Worst” (a number with a strong bass and a traditional tune), “One/Milk Honey” (a lively song with an amazing tin whistle, fiddle and percussion end) and “King of the Hill” (an upbeat song showcasing fiddle).

The other self-penned tracks are also very good. “Double Cross” is an interesting Celtic pop-rock number featuring fiddle and tin whistle. “Lone Wolf” and “Save Me” blend Irish music with American sounds. And “Revolution” has a tight rhythm section and a nice fiddle backing.

“The Parting Glass” is the only cover that is not a tune. I prefer The Dubliners version to the Clancy Brothers rendition. Orthodox Celts have given a fast-paced Celtic rock treatment to the song that I have really enjoyed.

Regarding the tunes, “The Banshee” (aka “McMahon’s”) is the best tune on the CD. It opens with fiddle and tin whistle, but then the full band joins. “Flowers of Red Hill” gets a Lúnasa treatment where tin whistle and percussion shine. IMHO, the remaining tracks are not as interesting from a Celtic rock album point of view. “Banish Misfortune” is given a basic or stripped treatment and features only mandola and acoustic guitar. “Morrison’s Jig” is a fiddle led tune played a little bit slowly. Bodhrán, accordion and banjo can be heard on the “Kesh Jig”. The musicianship is good on both jigs, but they don’t add anything new to these over-exposed standards.

Orthodox Celts’ sixth album comes in a 4 panel digipack. The artwork has been made by Italian comic book artist Walter Venturi. Every member of the band has been depicted by Walter on the artwork. Although there is no lyric booklet, all of the lyrics to the songs are available at the band’s website. “Many Mouths Shut” has been produced, mixed and mastered by Dejan Lalic (mandolin, octave mandola, tenor banjo, electric guitar and bck. vocals). The self-production involves that the band’s songs sound exactly as they want them to sound. And the final result is spotless.

Serbia has a dynamic Celtic rock/punk scene. Irish Stew of Sindidun will release their fourth album soon and young bands Scordisci and Cassidy’s Brewery have released some singles. But, before them, Orthodox Celts opened the track to this genre on the Balkan countries. Six albums and still growing.

01 – One/Milk & Honey 3:03
02 – I Wish You the Very Worst 3:07
03 – Morrison’s Jig 1:17
04 – Save Me 2:53
05 – The Banshee 1:17
06 – King of the Hill 2:38
07 – Flowers of the Red Hill 1:08
08 – Lone Wolf 3:15
09 – Revolution 2:53
10 – Banish Misfortune 1:23
11 – Double Cross 2:59
12 – Parting Glass 2:04
13 – Kesh Jig 1:04    

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Review by Kinksmarkham