Year: 2024
Label: Century Media

This year marks the 10th anniversary of US rap/hardcore/metal act Body Count’s fifth studio album Manslaughter, which was a true return to form after the somewhat lacklustre Murder 4 Hire eight years prior. In fact, it was pretty obviously their second best album to date.

In the years since, not only have Body Count kept up a steady pace with new releases, they’ve also put out better stuff than the in itself very good Manslaughter. One can truly speak of a new golden age for the Ice-T led act, not only artistically but also commercially. I think it’s safe to say they’ve never been as popular as now.

Merciless doesn’t break the winning streak. Yes, very obviously Ice-T and riffmeister Ernie C have once again tapped that good vein and come away with good results. But not only that: it feels that, once again, Body Count breaks new ground. Not a mean feat from a band of people reaching the grandfather age to do that.

The major change on this album compared to the previous couple of album is the amount of tracks that are essentially rap with a metal backing. And, furthermore, how well they work. Take for example the metal version of 99 Problems off of aforementioned Manslaughter: yeah, it was fun, but ultimately far from a core song of the album.

(And before you start saying that Body Count is rap metal and as such it’s all rap, stop, shut up and actually listen to the music. Very few of Body Count’s tracks are, in fact, rap. The major exception is Murder 4 Hire, which is a rather abortive and untypical album anyhow.)

Unlike 99 Problems, some of the rap/metal tracks on Merciless are absolute core tracks. Take for example album closer Mic Contract. Absolutely lethal, with dominating drums and killer riffs backing up Ice-T’s tight flow. Or the far slower and more menacing title track.

And Body Count has never sounded as thrash as now. Check out Psychopath and The Purge; those riffs have a heavy Slayer feel to them. Especially Psychopath goes entirely over into modern thrash territory, and does it with mastery. Ice-T sounds fierce. And “fierce” is an apt word to describe the lyrics as well: Ice-T throws punches every which way, leaving none unscathed.

The bottom line is very simple: already for some time, ever since 2017’s Bloodlust (review), Body Count have been one of the most interesting and consistently good metal acts active at the moment. Merciless does not see that changing. In fact, quite the contrary: I’m going to dub this the band’s third best album after the debut and Bloodlust.

All this after a career of 30+ years, with guys already old enough to be granddads. That’s impressive, man.

Visit Body Count on their official website, Facebook or Instagram