Bloodlust. Carnivore. Manslaughter. and now Merciless (Century Media/Sony Music). The latest in a string of one-word, no-messing-about album titles since the return from their hiatus in 2014, Body Count deliver their eighth full-length studio release and it’s every bit as acerbic and confrontational as you could imagine.
This new record also answers two questions nobody thought they would ever need to ask: What would a Body Count-Pink Floyd cover version sound like, and what if David Gilmour himself guested on it?
Yes, never one to play things safe, rapper, actor, activist, boxer and, er… Jiu Jitsu-er Ice-T is joined by the legendary Floyd guitarist for a reworking of “Comfortably Numb.” Prog Rock fans of a certain age will likely run for the hills, screaming something about sacrilege and defilement but with Gilmour himself on board, and featuring lyrics like “Too much religious beef, too much racist s**t / and if there is a God we probably make him sick”, it fits right in with Pink Floyd’s own humanistic outlook and biting social commentary.
Not just limited to one guest performance, Merciless continues the trend of BC enlisting a number of noted luminaries from the Metal scene. Based on the movie series of the same name, “Purge” takes the idea of a night of legal violence and delivers fast and thrashy riffs with a solid Death Metal groove, extra vocals supplied by none other than Cannibal Corpse vocalist and walking neck George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher.
“Psychopath” is another indelicate eruption of brutal riffery featuring Fit For An Autopsy vocalist Joe Bad, “Live Forever” is fast-paced Punk/Metalcore featuring former Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones, and “Drugs Lords” sounds exactly like something you’d expect from Brazilian metal god Max Cavalera.
Elsewhere, the messages and attitude take priority over guest stars, the vicious “Interrogation” opening the record with lyrics about torture tactics played against a militaristic rhythm and a punchy bass line. The title track comes in swinging with a loose drum beat, a bent power chord not too far from Black Sabbath‘s “Iron Man,” and sharp, serrated angular notes, the song turning into Slayer halfway through with a classic eighties Thrash riff.
“Fuck What You Heard” is Ice’s take on the division currently rife in the US, exacerbated by the (as-then upcoming) recent election. “Do Or Die” is a reassuringly unsubtle take on gun violence, “Lying Motherfuka” and “World War” tell you all you need to know from the titles alone, and “Mic Contract” concludes the album with fast-paced, adversarial aggression.
The riffs come thick and fast from co-founder Ernie C and axe partner Juan “Juan Of The Dead” Garcia, the former guitarist of acts such as Abattoir, Agent Steel, and Evildead. Sean E. Sean provides the samples while the rhythm section comprises Vincent Price on bass and “Ill” Will Dorsey on drums, with backing vocals from Ice’s son, Little Ice.
Another rip-roaring, antagonistic attack on everything wrong in society and beyond, Ice-T vents his spleen as only he can on another collection of angry and sociopolitically relevant songs that probably shouldn’t be played at grandma’s house.
Buy the album here:
https://amzn.to/48VlWo9
8 / 10
GARY ALCOCK