BODY COUNT — Body Count (review)

BODY COUNT — Body Count album cover Album · 1992 · Crossover Thrash Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Warthur
The debut album by Body Count is like a litmus test for ignorant music snobs: if you hear someone dismissing it as rap-metal, chances are they haven't even heard the thing. True, the group is fronted by gangsta rap innovator Ice-T, but his vocal approach this time owes little to his usual hip-hop derived flow and more to hardcore punk vocalists like Henry Rollins and Jello Biafra (the latter of whom contributed a spoken word track to the censored version of the album by way of a broadside against those who objected to Cop Killer).

The musical backing is genuinely interesting, being as it is a mixture of traditional metal, hardcore punk, and thrash, but what makes the album stand out is the aura of menace it conjures from beginning to end. By taking the raw aggression of metal and hardcore and applying it to the subject matter of gangsta rap - as opposed to the wizards and demons and abstract philosophising metal bands have a habit of doing - Ice-T crafts the album into a devastating punch to the gut, creating a listening experience far more powerful and disturbing than many groups were able to achieve.

But then a whole swathe of the metal scene shunned them because they were black and their frontman also had a rap career. (Seriously, I am aware of sites - not naming any names here - who point-blank refuse to consider Body Count metal because they assume without listening to the album that it's like Limp Bizkit or some other rap-metal hybrid. I am very glad Metal Music Archives has proved to be more open-minded than that.)
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
"I Love My KKK Bitch", "Mutha Fuck her Dear Old Dad" :-)
Time Signature wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Damn dick!
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
He he I used to listen to this one all the time on a cassette tape I bought in Andorra of all places :-)

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 8 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed