BODY COUNT — ‘MERCILESS’

Writer’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The road since Covid-19 hasn’t been an easy one for Body Count; A week following the release of their previous album, ‘Carnivore’, a worldwide lockdown was called, leading them to have to cancel their entire tour in North America and Europe, with the European tour alone carrying 30 shows. With a Grammy award in their hands for ‘Carnivore’ (despite only playing one show on the album cycle), record label pressure was rising for them to create a new album of a similar commendation.

‘Merciless’’ opening track, ‘Interrogation Interlude’ sets the tone for exactly what the album seemingly campaigns to do, using horrorcore influence to initiate fear into the listener, in an attempt to call for change across international politics and police brutality.

The following few tracks delve into themes referencing Ice T’s love for horror movies, including the title track and latest single before the album drop ‘Merciless’, and, most notably ‘The Purge’, which actually begins with an excerpt from the movie of the same name. The feature from Corpsegrinder here brings Cannibal Corpse’s trademark viciousness and veracity to the opening moments of the track, a clear influence that differs from the rest of the album in terms of its signature faster tempo changes.

As a matter of fact, all of the features on the album are not only impressive, but seem to each bring with them their own signature influence to the tracks. The next track on the album, ‘Psychopath’, which features Joe Bad (of Fit for an Autopsy), is the only one on the album to feature clear death metal/deathcore influence. Samples of a woman screaming and a chainsaw can be heard in the background in parts, along with, of course, the harsh vocals from Joe Bad and the swift nod to his other work within the lyric - ‘Just another motherf*cker fit for an autopsy’.

The second half of the album heads down a more obvious political route lyrically, kicking off with ‘Fuck What You Heard’, which uses the repeated line, ‘Democrips and Bloodpublicans’ to equate both of the top political parties in America to gangs. Ice T makes his political standpoint crystal clear in the mid-section of this song, stating his distaste for a ‘two party system’ and the division of people from the United States against each other. The inclusion of the lyric ‘left wing or right wing it’s all the same, you’re racist or you’re not’ speaks volumes and it’s honestly refreshing to hear a track like this be used by an artist as a platform to speak about the frustrating current state of American politics. There is a guitar part throughout this song that reminded me of a police siren, which I thought was a really cool addition to further highlight the political current.

The clear influence from featured artists continues to be heard on ‘Live Forever’, ‘Drug Lords’ and a cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’. ‘Live Forever’ features Howard Jones (of previous Killswitch Engage fame), who adds a staple metalcore touch to the track within its feature of a melodic chorus and harmonised harsh vocals over clean vocals. ‘Drug Lords’ exhibits a feature from Max Cavelera of Sepultura, but actually seems to have more of an influence from Max’s other endeavours in Nailbomb and Soulfly, carrying more of a nu-metal formality in the riffs than a thrash metal one.

The most admirable and surprising of the features on the album is one from Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. The album’s cover of ‘Comfortably Numb’ had so many changes from the original song that it almost felt like a completely different one. Despite my love for the original song creating a somewhat bias for me here, I was still impressed by Ice T’s addition of new verses showcasing his lyrical capabilities, and the metal guitar tones from David Gilmour himself.

My personal favourite from the album was ‘World War’, a hardcore influenced track exuding Hatebreed vibes. ‘World War’, gives a really lyrically impressive anti-war commentary and truly inspired me to want to front my own hardcore band and preach about the current abundance of violence across the world.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this release, and the addition of producer Will Putney (Knocked Loose, The Ghost Inside) brought a modern touch to the album which for sure added a touch of longevity and prevented the album from sounding outdated, which was impressive from a band that have been making music for as long as Body Count have. The lyrical capabilities and dexterity in terms of vocal flow were also certainly impressive from Ice T. However, I didn’t think it brought much new to the table in comparison to their 2017 album Bloodlust, with similar themes and a similar array of impressive features. All the while, I’d still say it’s definitely worth a listen.