Album review: Body Count – Merciless

The opening track on Body Count’s eighth album finds frontman Ice-T playing the part of a sadistic inquisitor, concluding with the rather bold proclamation, ‘I actually reach orgasm during torture.’

This ushers in an album which initially goes in hard on horrorcore lyrics, before broadening out into social reportage and geo-political comment. Along the way, there are guests galore and one piece quite unlike anything else the band have put their name to.

So the title-track, Purge and Psychopath reflect Ice’s penchant for gory flicks, while Fuck What You Heard posits the opinion that rival political parties are no different to gangs, and World War ponders which nation is gonna kick off an apocalyptic conflict.

The sonic template remains suitably ready to tear chunks out of the listener, with RATM-rivalling dynamics, guitarist Ernie C’s distinctly Slayer-ised riffs and steamrollering thrash delivered with hardcore’s bullish energy. All this is rendered with impressive potency by long-time producer Will Putney, making Merciless sound more state-of-the-art than expected from a band three decades in, fronted by a 66-year-old.

Amongst the heavy guests are Will’s Fit For An Autopsy bandmate Joe Badolato, Cannibal Corpse frontneck George ‘Corspegrinder’ Fisher and, on the churning punk of Drug Lords, Soulfly/Sepultura legend Max Cavalera.

More startling is the presence of one David Gilmour, lending surprisingly metal-edged guitar to the BC version of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. Keeping the basic feel and some of the chorus, Ice has written a whole new set of lyrics that offer his most rounded reflections on the state of humanity yet.

If some impact is lost by being sequenced next to a song called Lying Motherfucka, this cover remains the most thoughtful thing Body Count have recorded – not bad for an album that started with a torture session.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Rage Against The Machine, Slayer, Biohazard

Merciless is released on November 22 via Sony/Century Media