THE CURSED (US) - Room Full of Sinners

“Hmmmmm”: this was pretty much my first reaction when I listened to this album. To be honest, I didn’t know where to put it; actually, I'm still not convinced that I know. For most of you, it is not exactly the kind of material that you’d expect from Overkill’s front man, but I think it deserves a listening chance. Instrumentally it reminds me of things like Ac/Dc, a bit of Black Sabbath in places (riffs), and other similar, “old school” stuff, if you will. What surprised me was “Serpentine Slither”, a very jazzy song, with extremely expressive vocals (not exactly what I would have expected from Ellsworth, to be perfectly honest). “For the first time in my life, I was able to write lyrics about the weaker sex. I don’t think I’ve ever written a song about a woman for Overkill [...] The lyrics, the subject, the vocal style, all are much more melodic (compared to Overkill n.b.) and damn cool” said Ellsworth himself. Three paragraphs later, I have barely said anything. So let’s end on the same note: Room Full of Sinners is a very balanced and “groove-y” album, an experimental effort from Ellsworth that came out very well, a much heavier guitar sound than the "classic sound" for songs of this kind, a successful marriage of hard rock, metal, jazz/swing, blues. While not a “memorable” album, it is definitely worth listening to, at least from time to time, especially if you’re in the right mood.
(+) the groove and vocal performance, the saxophone
(-) a tendency to become linear

Andy Vasilescu Nota: 8