BODY COUNT

A long, long time ago, on a planet almost as stupid as this one, there was a degree of resistance to the idea that Ice-T could become a major player in the metal game. BODY COUNT were bullish and uncompromising when they emerged from the LA streets in the early '90s, but they were also noticeably ragged around the edges and a world away from the polished, poised heaviness of that era. Luckily, they didn't give three shits, and throughout it all — their emergence, the release of 1992's self-titled debut, and the fallout from its most notorious track, "Cop Killer" — Ice-T remained resolute and defiant. Plainly a genuine fan of punk, hardcore and metal, he refused to conform to anyone else's idea of what a wealthy hip-hop MC should be doing, and instead set about carving his own bloodstained niche, with his loyal deputy, guitarist Ernie C, beside him.

Despite vexed and controversial beginnings, BODY COUNT have endured and exceeded any initial expectations. Rather than getting lost in the shadow of their leader's high profile TV acting career, they have forged ahead with determination, and since 2014's "Manslaughter" they have been unstoppable, and more committed to causing chaos and carnage than ever. It is clear that Ice-T believes in this band as much as in anything he has ever done, and that is more obvious than ever on "Merciless".

The eighth BODY COUNT album finds Ice-T in a murderous mood. Everything is fucked up and nobody gives a shit. This is perfect territory for the big man to let loose with a series of seething, vitriolic diatribes, and his band are in similarly furious and unforgiving form. "Merciless" is an instant anthem, with a main riff stolen from BLACK SABBATH's "Iron Man" and some of the most muscular thrash released this year. Ice-T is merciless, he gives no fucks, and this is what it sounds like. Guest cameos from CANNIBAL CORPSE's George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher on "The Purge", and FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY's Joe Bad, on "Psychopath" are similarly emblematic of this album's brutal nature, and both are several degrees more intense than anything BODY COUNT have released to date. Both "Fuck What You Heard" and the closing "Mic Contract" (a timely redux of a track from Ice's "O.G. Original Gangster" magnum opus) take what's left of the rap-metal spirit and pump it full of steroids and bile.

"Lying Motherfucka" probably needs no explanation, but its obnoxiousness harks back to the early days of the band, and the gung-ho, fuck-it-all attitude that made "Cop Killer" such a legendary anthem. Most intriguing of all, BODY COUNT have covered PINK FLOYD's "Comfortably Numb" and managed to lure David Gilmour into the studio for a typically magnificent solo. Rather than copying the song wholesale, the LA bruisers have stripped it down to its main riff, enabling Ice-T to deliver one of the most powerful and poignant raps of his career, while shrouded in disquieting atmosphere. It is far, far better than it should be, and yet another reason to take BODY COUNT very seriously indeed.