Imagine it is 2:30 AM on the foggy, clammy streets of a nameless big city. You walk these mean streets restlessly, unable to sleep or sit still. You duck into a dimly lit bar and look around. The smoke-filled room is full of other night crawlers such as yourself. The lights are low and there's a feeling of danger in the air. Your eyes are drawn to the small, dimly lit stage. Suddenly a band strikes up a tune, but instead of the sleazy jazz you were expecting, it's heavy metal...a lowdown, dirty, bluesy kind of metal. You're in a room full of sinners...and the band is The Cursed.

The Cursed is a new proposition featuring some familiar metal faces. Most familiar is singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, the charismatic lead singer of thrash legends Overkill. However, this isn't the Blitz you Overkill fans are used to. Sure, his voice is familiar, but here he stretches it in unfamiliar ways. Blues and jazz seem to be the main influences and Ellsworth often has a kind of grit here that reminds me of a bottom-feeding Louis Armstrong. It's an interesting performance from one of metal's genuine characters. On guitar is Dan Lorenzo, long associated with thrash pioneers Hades as well as the more grungy Non-Fiction. Here Lorenzo grinds out some slow, dirty licks with plenty of heaviness and sleaze - thrash only rarely raises its head. The band is completed by Lorenzo's Non-Fiction ally Mike Cristi on drums and mysterious bass player Job the Raver.

Room Full of Sinners is not a very technical album and most of the music is simply constructed and played. But for those adventurous metalheads who are seeking some smoke-filled ambience in their music, the album is worth checking out.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2007 Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.