UMUR
"Merciless" is the eighth full-length studio album by US crossover thrash metal act Body Count. The album was released through Century Media Records in November 2024. It´s the successor to "Carnivore" from 2020. Body Count has had a remarkably consistent lineup with the bulk of the band members having been part of the lineup since "Manslaugther" from 2014. The lineup has actually only changed once since as lead vocalist Ice T´s son Little Ice was added to the lineup on "Bloodlust" (2017) as backing vocalist. "Merciless" features quite a few guest appearences though. Among others from Corpsegrinder (Cannibal Corpse) and Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy).
So, by now Body Count is a tight nit unit and a well playing band. Stylistically the material on "Merciless" more or less continues the hardcore influenced thrash metal style of the preceding albums with Ice T delivering politically charged lyrics featuring topics like racism, hatred, anger, war, and other merry subjects...in other words it´s just as it should be on a Body Count album. Ice T spits out venom in a nicely aggressive and raw shouting singing style and while the occasional nod towards his rap past is heard here and there, it´s not in any way a dominant part of the vocal style on "Merciless".
The sound production is to my ears a bit on the thin side and it could have prospered from a more bottom heavy sound, but other than that it´s a professional, clear, and powerful sounding production job. Paired with the strong musicianship and the well composed and entertaining material "Merciless" is overall another high quality release from Body Count. It won´t win over music listeners, who didn´t appreciate what came before, but on the other hand it will most certainly please the loyal fanbase and it has the potential to win Body Count new fans. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
