Album Review

Body Count - ManslaughterBody Count – Manslaughter

Over the past couple of months Body Count have been teasing us with the awesome singles ‘Talk Shit, Get Shot’ and ‘Bitch In The Pit’, both songs were hard hitting full of beefy guitar riffs, heavy drum beats and explicit lyrics which Ice-T executes with pure aggression and now the band have just released their brand new studio album ‘Manslaughter’ which happens to be their first studio album in over 8 years with their last album ‘Murder 4 Hire’ being released way back in 2006.

‘Manslaughter’ is easily the best album that Body Count have ever released and also comes as quite a surprise considering how long the band have been away from the music scene, Ice-T is 56 now and it seems like as he is getting older he has more to vent his anger about than when he first burst on the music scene way back in the early 80’s and equally the rest of the band equally let out their anger with some of the most menacing instrumental work I have heard in years as Body Count smash the airways with their rap-rock crossover sound.

The album kicks off with the explosive lead single ‘Talk Shit, Get Shot’ which really sets the pace for the rest of the album as the song is proper hard hitting and see’s Ice-T ranting about the state of the world today with cowards being keyboard warriors having digs at people from behind their computer, mobile phone, tablet and whatever electrical device they have that connects to social media and judging by the lyrical content if Ice-T had his way he would take out each and every one of these cowards, instrumentally the song is mega as Ernie C lays down some killer guitar riffs whilst Ill Will beats the hell out of his drum kit.

‘Pray For Death’ flows in a similar way as the opening track ‘Talk Shit, Get Shot’ does with massive instrumental work especially the guitar riffs from Ernie C which sounds like a machine gun going off in places, whilst Ice-T rants in a fast and furious way.

’99 Problems BC’ is a slight re-visit to the original Ice-T ’99 Problems’ song, the song opens in a spoken word way with Ice-T going all out talking his female conquests, as the song fully gets going and the guitars hit the song comes to life a bit as Ice-T carries on with his mad rant, also included at the end of the album is a rock version of the same song which see’s the band rock out slightly more than the earlier version.

The likes of ‘Back To Rehab’, ‘Bitch In The Pit’, ‘Get A Job’, ‘Wanna Be A Gangster’ are all really strong tracks as they flow at such speed and are executed with such aggression and the whole Ice-T lead vocals and group backing vocals work so well in all of these songs and not to forget the machine gun drumming in ‘Wanna Be A Gangster’ which really shines through.

Towards the middle of the album Body Count cover the classic Suicidal Tendencies track ‘Institutionalized’ which they have safely called ‘Institutionalized 2014” and it see’s Body Count rework the lyrics and sing about playing Xbox, requesting their e-mail account password and trying to eat their lunch but having a mad encounter with a vegan, the lyrics may not be as punk and in your face as the original Suicidal Tendencies song yet I can guarantee that the song will have you smiling from ear to ear as I laughed hard on the first listen and still have a smile on my face now after listening to the song what feels like 50 times over , and not only are the lyrics hilarious but the way that Ice-T lays them down in such a forceful and aggressive way you can kind of put yourself in the situation and imagine Ice-T in person having these mad rants.

‘Pop Bubble’ see’s Body Count team up with Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta, and you have guessed it the song is easily the hardest hitting track on the album as Jamey Jasta is easily one of the best hardcore vocalists around at the moment and working alongside Ice-T and co when they are at the top of their game is pretty magical as they have a rant at former hardcore rappers who have turned pop without naming the artists yet making is so easy for you to figure out who they are having a pop at.

I have to say that I never in a million years expected Body Count to release an album this year in fact due to the amount of time that the band have been away from the scene I had pretty much forgot about them until they released the ‘Talk Shit, Get Shot’ video back in May and now it feels like I could well be listening to may album of the year already as ‘Manslaughter’ is outstanding, the album features 14 tracks and runs for the best part of 50minutes and features the perfect rap-rock crossover whilst vocally and instrumentally packing an almighty punch whilst the whole lyrically content is pretty hilarious as long as you are not easily offended and don’t take life to seriously.

5/5

Review by Trigger

 Band Members

Ice-T
Ernie C
Ill Will
Vincent Price
Juan of the Dead
Sean E Sean
 Track Listing

1. Talk Shit, Get Shot
2. Pray For Death
3. 99 Problems BC
4. Back To Rehab
5. Manslaughter
6. Get A Job
7. Institutionalized 2014
8. Pop Bubble (featuring Jamey Jasta)
9. Enter The Dark Side
10. Bitch In The Pit"
11. Black Voodoo Sex"
12. Wanna Be A Gangsta
13. I Will Always Love You
14. 99 Problems BC - Rock mix

 Band Related Links
Body Count Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?