After previously announcing their signing to Century Media Records, Body Count, the hardcore metal band led by Hip-Hop legend Ice-T have now dubbed their new album they are working on, entitled Bloodlust. The album is set for release in 2017. Bloodlust is being produced by Will Putney known for his work on the last Body Count album, Manslaughter, and Miss May I among others.
Body Count, featuring hip-hop legend Ice-T, has signed a worldwide deal with Century Media Records. The band has entered the studio with producer Will Putney (Miss May I) to start recording its new album for a late 2016 release. Putney also steered Body Count’s last work, the acclaimed Manslaughter (Sumerian)
Ice-T commented on the signing:
“It’s cool to be a member of the Century Label Group alongside such a lot of well-established metal artists.
With our last album, ‘Manslaughter’, we tested the waters and got a great response from the fans and critics. Now it’s time to go kill it and make a more aggressive album and keep the Body Count style intact.Will Putney is like a member of the band and has an excellent ear. He’s a great producer because he captures the true essence of our band’s sound. Once we are done writing the song, it’s his job to step in and make it sound better. He helps move the record in the right direction. We’re anticipating working with him again.
Once the record’s done, we’re going to shoot a lot of music videos and perform spot-dates on certain tests, etc.”
Motörhead © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com
The music world lost one of its true great baddasses when Ian Frasier Kilmister, known to scores of fans by his eponymous nickname Lemmy of Motörhead, passed away suddenly from cancer on December 28th. The shockwave felt with from announcement of his death at age 70 on social media, and then confirmation by the band was heartbreaking for many who followed his career of nearly five decades. Although he has struggled with health issues the last few years, Motörhead was last seen on tour in Europe three weeks earlier, supporting their recent new album Bad Magic (UDR). One of the most enduring sounds in rock music, the obscenely loud volume of the bands’ live backline, unmatched by any band in any genre, will never be heard again. Continue reading
Slipknot brought back heavy music into their brand of a festival called Knotfest once again to Southern California as they packed two days (plus a VIP only Friday evening event for campers) full of headbanging and mayhem at San Manuel Amphitheatre in Devore, CA.
The VIP pre-party show consisted of brief sets by Khaotika, Motorbreath, Rings of Saturn and The Faceless, while Sepultura became the main focus of that evening, performing many longtime favorites from their 30th anniversary tour, such as ‘Refuse/Resist’, ‘Arise’ and ‘Propaganda,’ while working on a few of the newer songs such as ‘Choke.’
Saturday’s main stage led the charge with the return of Pepper Keenan with Corrosion of Conformity, working in favorites such as ‘Clean My Wounds’ and ‘Albatross’; then Trivium and Mastodon both brought out powerful sets of powerful guitar driven hard rock leading into Korn’s semi-setlist of their début self titled album (ie they played only half of the album but they still brought their usual powerful live show) while working in other favorites like ‘Freak on a Leash’ and ‘Falling Away From Me.’
Headliners Judas Priest came out strong with a cross-section of newer songs such as ‘Dragonaut’ and ‘Valhalla’ while working in longtime favorites such as ‘Breaking The Law’ and ‘Hell Bent For Leather,’ as well as ‘Turbo Lover’. Following a strong showing on their previous tour, they did not disappoint and showed that after all of these years they can still deliver classic metal the right way.
Unlike the 2014 edition, Slipknot only played one day instead of both days, and they brought back the mini roller coasters and the Slipknot museum for attendees to enjoy. Another addition to this year’s edition was the Extreme Stage with such bands as Kataklysm, Abysmal Dawn, Belphagor and Inquisition living up to their musical brand and the headbangers representing as well.
The only band who did not quite fit the stage was Chilean-Canadian alternative-metallers The ReAktion, where their synth-driven riff metal was something fans grew accustomed to but was greatly out of place on that stage. The early set time worked in their favor on Sunday, with fans enjoying sightings of Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson around their set. Despite that, their eclectic sound was refreshing and somewhat interesting to see how they evolve from here.
Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor made a brief appearance with fellow Iowans Green Death during their brief set later on Sunday. Fans got acquainted quickly with the band despite their lack of recognition prior to the show.
Stages 2 and 3 were placed on the revolving stage where bands could get going much easier. Saturday’s set began with Battlecross, Red Fang and Goatwhore getting early set calls, but the packed crowd showed up to rock out with each band. Even the well publicized Josh Barnett joined in the pit action early on.
Veteran metallic hardcore outfit Earth Crisis brought back memories of their appearance of Ozzfest 1996 at this venue. Other highlights included At The Gates’ aggression driven set, while Body Count plowed through their set of classics (despite minor technical difficulties with Ice T killing time with his attempt at telling jokes on stage). GWAR capped out the stage with their usual antics and over the top stage show, moving forward post Oderus Urungus (a.k.a. Dave Brockie).
Sunday’s main stage opened with Ghostface Killa and Mobb Deep’s brief old school hip hop set that attracted curious onlookers, while Clutch came in with their usual power riff rock set that their stripped down stage show appeared a bit bare for such a large sized stage.
Bring Me The Horizon’s updated stage show and sound definitely caught the attention of the crowd with their LED powered backdrops with the letters to SPIRIT aligning with each word of their opening song ‘Happy Song.’ Frontman Oli Sykes had the crowd moving along with his commands, and kept the show entertaining. Plus their newer synth oriented melodic rock sound on songs like ‘Throne,’ and ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ made their live show much more anthemic driven tunes for the crowd to sing along to. Even with the older heavier songs like ‘Chelsea Smile,’ Bring Me The Horizon showed that they have a full arsenal within their bag of tricks and is no surprise why they have the attention of the hard music world.
When Slipknot took the stage, they unveiled their new stage setup that resembled the carnival from hell, and they took charge from the opening minute. Opening with ‘Sarcastrophe’ and leading into ‘The Heretic Anthem’, Slipknot was on a mission to show why they are one of the biggest hard acts on the planet and can command their own festival. They even worked in ‘Me Inside’ (which they have never played live before apparently) and ‘Eeyore,’ giving the crowd more to get manic over.
The second and third stages on Sunday featured hard rockers Devour the Day and Kyng giving the crowd energetic melodic rock to nibble on, while semi-hometown favorites Snot got the crowd rocking with selections from their Get Some album while paying tribute to their late singer Lynn Strait.
Helmet, All That Remains and Beartooth all plowed through power sets of rock and metal that got the crowds working up a sweat, while led into the massive stampede of fans eagerly awaiting Cannibal Corpse and Suicidal Tendencies to perform. Cannibal Corpse simply owned Knotfest’s second stage and possibly had the largest crowd of headbangers and mosh pit participants of any act, which bled into Suicidal’s already veteran LA punk rock fan base. Overall, the insanity that came with those acts simply made the observing that much more enjoyable.
Overall, Knotfest 2015 brought together a strong collection of acts within the heavy music world once again and gave fans something to be excited about. After two consecutive years, hopefully Knotfest will continue to be an annual event (or something close to it).
PHOTO SET DAY 1:
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PHOTO SET DAY 2:
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PHOTOS BY MELINA D PHOTOGRAPHY
Body Count, led by legendary hip-hop figure and television personality Ice-T has released the video for their cover of the Suicidal Tendencies classic cut ‘Institutionalized’. See the video below:
Ice-T’s unique re-imagining of the famous spastic lyrics to the song were an instant hit with critics and fans alike. In an interview with Ghost Cult last summer, Long time BC band member Ernie C commented on the remake:
“It’s a rant-. It’s bringing it contemporary. It’s the same rant that Mike [Muir] had 25 years ago about his parents, but we’re bringing it up to now. It’s a lot of fun.
We had to get clearance to do that song. So we started calling around. We thought Mike had it. Mike didn’t own it. This guy named Glen Friedman owns the rights to the song. That’s Ice’s photographer from back in the day. We didn’t know who owned the song. So he gave us the rights to do it but he said…he’s a vegan so “you’re coming down hard on the vegans!”
Ice-T. Photo by Kaley Nelson
The song comes off of Manslaughter, released last year on Sumerian Records. To support the album Body Count toured extensively on The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. In 2015 the band is booking many European Festivals, such as Hellfest and Coppenhell.
The cover of “Turn Down For What” (DJ Snake and Lil Jon), performed by Ice T and Upon A Burning Body, has released a music video, which can be viewed below. The cover appeared on Punk Goes Pop Vol 6, out now via Fearless Records.
Upon A Burning Body filmed a music video, co-starring Ice-T for their cover of DJ Snake & Lil Jon track ‘Turn Down For What,’ which will be included on Punk Goes Pop Vol. 6, out November 17th via Fearless Records. Photos of the video shoot can be seen here and here.
Said Upon A Burning Body singer Danny Leal:
“It was amazing doing a video with Ice-T,” states UABB’s Danny Leal. “He is such an inspiration. To be able to have him in a UABB video is a true honor. We hope everyone enjoys and parties to our remake of “Turn Down For What”.”
Upon A Burning Body will be tour and dates are posted below.
Current UPON A BURNING BODY Tour Dates:
W/ Whitechapel & Glass Cloud
Nov 13: Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
Nov 14: The Norva – Norfolk, VA
W/ Asking Alexandria, Blessthefall, Chelsea Grin & The Family Ruin
Nov 28: Rialto Theatre – Tucson, AZ
Nov 29: Riverside Municipal Auditorium – Riverside, CA (NO ASKING ALEXANDRIA)
Nov 30: Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
Dec 01: McDonald Theater – Eugene, OR
Dec 02: Showbox at the Market – Seattle, WA
Dec 04: The Starlite – Edmonton, AB
Dec 06: O’Brians Event Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Dec 07: Garrick Centre – Winnipeg, MB
Dec 10: Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC
Dec 11: Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
Dec 12: Kool Haus – Toronto, ON
Dec 13: London Music Hall – London, ON
Dec 14: Newport Music Hall – Columbus, OH
Dec 15: Mr. Small’s Theatre – Millvale, PA
Dec 16: Exhibition Hall – Madison, WI
Dec 17: Webster Theatre – Hartford, CT
Dec 18: The Chameleon Room – Oklahoma City, OK (NO ASKING ALEXANDRIA)
Dec 19: Norva Theater – Norfolk, VA
Dec 20: Ziggy’s By The Sea – Wilmington, NC
Body Count has historically found a way to grab the attention of the listening public and shock the masses with its controversial themes to its songs while raising awareness to various social issues at the same time.
While their methods do not always sit well with everyone, Body Count always becomes the subject of conversation amongst the musical scene. As in past favorites such as ‘Momma’s Gonna Die Tonight’, ‘KKK Bitch’ and ‘Cop Killer’, the band has tackled controversial subjects such as racism and police brutality and brought it out into the national spotlight.
Their latest release Manslaughter (Sumerian Records) found new subjects to tackle including female empowerment, pop music and their takes on a couple of familiar songs.
Band guitarist Ernie C gave Ghost Cult Magazine a run down on a few high lights on Manslaughter:
‘Bitch In The Pit’
Ernie C: That’s a song about women empowerment – being empowered to control. Girls love that song. They want to be the bitch in the pit, and the girls are in the pit. That’s what that song is.
Jamey Jasta on ‘Pop Bubble’
Ernie C: He’s a fan and knows Ice. Ice was on his podcast, he called in and said he wanted to do a song. We were like ‘what song?’ The perfect song ‘Pop Bubble Full Of Bullshit…’ That’s a good song actually. I remember when working on it, Ice said ‘pop mutherfuckers don’t want no fight. Muthafucker’s pants too tight.’
‘Institutionalized’
Ernie C: It’s a rant. It’s bringing it contemporary. It’s the same rant that Mike [Muir] had 25 years ago about his parents, but we’re bringing it up to now. It’s a lot of fun.
We had to get clearance to do that song. So we started calling around. We thought Mike had it. Mike didn’t own it. This guy named Glen Friedman owns the rights to the song. That’s Ice’s photographer from back in the day. We didn’t know who owned the song. So he gave us the rights to do it but he said…he’s a vegan so “you’re coming down hard on the vegans!”
You know Ice loves video games. We did the ‘Gears of War’ song two years ago (for Gears of War 3). He loves videos games. It’s like his second job. It’s therapy.
’99 Problems’
Ernie C: Ice did that on a record (1993’s Home Invasion). There’s a story in Rolling Stone about it. Chris Rock was talking to Rick Rubin and he said you should use his hook that Ice has on one of Jay Z’s songs. That’s how that came about. But Jay Z stole the song. People hear the song now and ‘Ice is doing Jay Z’s cover’. No, Jay Z did Ice’s cover. They act like it didn’t happen. The catch about is we didn’t have to get clearance from no one. He had to get clearance to do that. He has to pay Ice on royalties on that song. They act like nothing’s going on. So we just took it back. They can’t claim we stole their song. No, it’s our song.
‘Talk Shit Get Shot’
Ernie C: You know Body Count is extreme. It’s taking everything to the extreme level. So that song – ‘Talk Shit, Get Shot’ – it goes out to internet bloggers. People that are on there – sometimes I listen to things – ‘the band sucks…’ and this and that – you really haven’t heard the band. We really don’t suck. People might not like it. I can play guitar. I have played guitar for 42 years. I don’t really suck. I might not be as good as so and so but I don’t suck. So this really tells the truth about some people.
REI NISHIMOTO
It has been quite some time since the world has last heard from Ice T and Body Count. Aside from Ice T’s thriving acting career on Law & Order: SVU as Odafin ‘Fin’ Tutuola for the past 14 years, the band has been relatively quiet until now.
Manslaughter is the band’s first new release since 2006’s Murder 4 Hire, and the band is coming back swinging. Band guitarist Ernie C [Ernie Cunnigan] explained the reasons behind their extended hiatus.
“Last summer, we were at the point where we could really do a record. Last one we did [was] eight years ago. It wasn’t really a record. Ice was in New York. I was in LA. I’d send him tracks and if he wanted to make a change, he’d send it back. It would take two weeks to make a simple change that it would take a second if you’re sitting together.”
“From last summer, we rented a house in Vegas. We put the band in there and stayed there for six weeks and wrote a record. When he heard something he didn’t like, he’d change it right then, go to sleep and wake up in the morning and say ‘let’s change that.’ So that’s why the record sounds the way it sounds.”
Ice T and Ernie C are the sole original members in Body Count, and the two have experienced many ups and downs throughout the years. They lost three original members [original drummer Victor Ray “Beatmaster V” Wilson in 1996 from leukemia; bassist Lloyd “Mooseman” Roberts from a drive by shooting in 2001; and guitarist Dennis “D-Roc” Miles from lymphoma in 2004], as well as shuffling various lineups throughout the years.
“First of all, we lost three members over the years. Now the band has to grieve. I’ve been doing different combinations of people but the band has to grieve. So we’re at a point where we’ve grieved.”
“Remember we’re one removed from the original member. Vince is my second bass player. Will [Ill Will ie Dorsey] is my second drummer. Juan [Juan of the Dead – Garcia] is my second guitarist and he came from Evildead, which everyone knows him. Vince [Vincent Price – Dennis] is been with me for the past ten years. Will is new but he works out just fine in the band. The thing of it is it just works well. Everyone works well together. The band sounds best as it sounds in the last ten years.”
Once they resumed the band, they began working on new material over an extended period of time and slowly worked its way back into business.
“The topics on here are really good. The first record is still relevant. ‘Cop Killer’ is still a relevant song. Nothing’s really changed. I’m going back to the first record with songs about racism like ‘Momma’s Gotta Die’ and ‘KKK Bitch’ which is still relevant today, with Donald Sterling proved that everything is still relevant. That record is still a current record. We had to write a record that’s contemporary. So we started writing songs and we wrote a lot of music without Ice’s lyrics. It takes more time to think about the lyrics than me writing the riffs.”
He talked about some of the songs on Manslaughter.
“Like a song called ‘Back To Rehab’ – I went to a rehab. I quit drinking about five years ago. Not like back, back, back to rehab…but it’s relevant. We have a song as a tribute to our soldiers – ‘I Will Always Love You’. Ice is an airborne ranger. That’s relevant. We wrote songs like ‘Talk Shit, Get Shot’, which is a rule of life. Every song is a single by itself. That record, you know it or not, plays from beginning to end…it’s sequenced. We wrote a record that’s sequenced like our first record, where you put on and play. People are used to buying on iTunes one song at a time. They don’t know you can buy a record and play it from beginning to end and take it to a whole new experience.”
Ice T and Body Count nearly coined the phrase ‘Fuck the Police’ from ‘Cop Killer’, where the line repeatedly comes up throughout the song. The song came out at a time when racial tension in Los Angeles arose during the infamous Rodney King police beatings and the LA Riots in 1992.
But 20 years plus has passed since those days, and the phrase often gets overused. How does the band feel about it looking at it now?
“It’s a slogan and nobody acts on anything. Now it’s just cheering – I’m just mad…can’t do nothing about it. Over the past two weeks, we’ve done a lot of national television. We’re one of the first heavy metal band to play on The Tonight Show. People were still uptight about it. We haven’t changed. We’re still the same band. But now America changed around us to accept us into their living rooms. That’s Middle America”.
“It’s ok to say “Fuck the Police”. That’s what that says. That makes it more so it’s a chanting slogan. That’s not really a cause. They put us on TV…”we didn’t say fuck the police”. But 20 years ago when we were saying it, it was like shut it down.
Another interesting point in the battle of metal versus rap, is whether metalheads were closet rap fans and if that stemmed into the problems. “I really don’t know. The metal fans listen to everything. I hang around musicians. I don’t talk to them about anything outside of…some metal fans just listen to metal. They discriminate before they know what it is.”
But despite all of the controversy, Body Count found itself on the annual Rockstar Mayhem Fest alongside bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Trivium, Asking Alexandria, Cannibal Corpse, Suicide Silence and others.
The relation goes back years and Ice T had previous done select shows for tour co-organizer Kevin Lyman on the Vans Warped Tour.
“We’ve only play select shows on Warped Tour. We’ve never done an entire Warped Tour. Kevin [Lyman] and John Reese are partners. I’ve known John Reese forever from Guns N Roses. So I’m out here like old times. We haven’t hung out with him in 24 years on tour. It’s like friends.”
“He was [under] Ice T [on Warped Tour]. He was out there with Eminem. Eminem wasn’t out there as Eminem. He was 187. He was out there with those guys. Ice was out there doing his thing.”
So what should the crowd expect this summer from them? “Our set is an hour and a half. Our set here is 25 minutes. Our normal set Ice talks for 25 minutes. So I said ‘you can talk for 30 minutes.’ We’re gonna play some old songs. We’re playing three new songs. We’ll play ‘There Goes The Neighborhood’, ‘Cop Killer’ and mix it up. We can only play so much. There’s enough for people to know there’s a new record and see if they like it.”
As far as future touring, Cunnigan would not commit to exact schedules due to Ice T’s acting schedule. “After this, Ice is going back to Law & Order. This is his summer vacation like high school. Coco is coming out with the dogs. Everybody’s watching the shows. The dogs are on tour. It’s a party. It’s a lot of fun.”
REI NISHIMOTO