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Body Count - Manslaughter review



Reviewer:
8.5

57 users:
7.39
Band: Body Count
Album: Manslaughter
Release date: June 2014


01. Talk S**t, Get Shot
02. Pray For Death
03. 99 Problems BC
04. Back To Rehab
05. Manslaughter
06. Get A Job
07. Institutionalized 2014
08. Pop Bubble [feat. Jamey Jasta]
09. Enter The Dark Side
10. Bitch In The Pit
11. Black Voodoo Sex
12. I Wanna Be A Gangsta
13. I Will Always Love You
14. 99 Problems BC [rock mix]

Let's get one thing straight - this is not a nu metal album. Body Count isn't Limp Bizkit or Korn. This isn't a bunch of suburban ponces spouting nasally high school poetry over drop-A chugging. This is more like the legendary Anthrax/Public Enemy collaboration: real attitude, real power, and a real legend spitting venom over heavy riffs.

Ice-T is angry. He has something to say; he didn't just resurrect this band out of boredom. Intertwining his socially-conscious rage with almost comical violence, Ice-T shouts his rants over mid-paced hardcore tracks and frenetic crossover thrash influenced by D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, Rollins Band, and even some modern hardcore acts. Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta provides guest vocals on "Pop Bubble" to underscore Body Count's revitalization. While Black Sabbath still leave their mark, particularly on the gloomy but meaningful "I Will Always Love You," the majority of bluesy, old school giants that complemented the band's thrashier tendencies have fallen by the wayside in favor of newer, heavier influences.

With a few hardcore-style breakdowns, gang vocals, lightning-fast solos, and memorable riffs, Body Count have pulled out all the stops and made a record to bring their classic sound into the 21st century. Murder 4 Hire was a decent record, but it could occasionally sound passionless or mired in itself. Manslaughter is a true Body Count album, the likes of which we haven't seen in nearly 20 years; it strips away all pretensions, atmospherics, and anything more complicated than it should be, returning to the band's roots. Songs like "Back To Rehab," "Get A Job," and the title track bring back the aggression and attitude that made Body Count and Born Dead such powerful albums.

"99 Problems BC" is a heavier re-hash of Ice's 1993 song "99 Problems" (from which Jay-Z took the hook for his hit of the same name); while fans of Ice-T's rap material might appreciate this new take, most fans from the metal side could safely avoid it. Body Count treat us to another semi-cover, in the form of "Institutionalized 2014" - the Suicidal Tendencies classic, updated hilariously for the modern era. "Black Voodoo Sex," meanwhile, continues the story of "Voodoo" from their self-titled debut.

Metal fans who approach this album should recognize that, while Ice-T is Ice-T and brings with him a certain hip-hop mentality, Body Count is more of a hardcore punk/crossover thrash band than anything else. Manslaughter is a violent, heavy-hitting metal album that takes some detours through different approaches, but overall makes Body Count's return a triumphant one.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 7





Written on 30.06.2014 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct.


Comments

Comments: 28   Visited by: 237 users
01.07.2014 - 00:03
ANGEL REAPER

Hell i gotta check this one...
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"Cross is only an iron,hope is just an illusion,freedom is nothing but a name..."
"Build your walls of the dead stone...Build your roofs of a dead wood..Build your dreams of a dead thoughts"
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01.07.2014 - 01:19
Lit.
Account deleted
Sounds tasty. Also gonna check it.
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01.07.2014 - 01:42
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
This is probably your best review, and not just because I agree with it.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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01.07.2014 - 01:48
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Yeah man, I dig this review a lot. I haven't heard anything by Body Count at all but your review got me pumped to check this shit out!
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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01.07.2014 - 02:03
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Troy Killjoy on 01.07.2014 at 01:42

This is probably your best review, and not just because I agree with it.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 01.07.2014 at 01:48

Yeah man, I dig this review a lot. I haven't heard anything by Body Count at all but your review got me pumped to check this shit out!

Thanks! I'm quite surprised that nobody has loudly disagreed with it yet.
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"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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01.07.2014 - 02:10
Darkside Momo
Retired
Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 01.07.2014 at 02:03

Thanks! I'm quite surprised that nobody has loudly disagreed with it yet.

haven't listened to the album yet, so I can't comment on that (even if the single sounded lame by Body Count standards), but I agree it's one of your best reviews, dude!
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My Author's Blog (in French)


"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you"

"I've lost too many years now
I'm stealing back my soul
I am awake"
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01.07.2014 - 02:12
Totenlieder

Good review man. I like this album a lot. I've always been a fan of Ice-T and Body Count.
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Blut & Krieg
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01.07.2014 - 02:13
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Darkside Momo on 01.07.2014 at 02:10

Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 01.07.2014 at 02:03

Thanks! I'm quite surprised that nobody has loudly disagreed with it yet.

haven't listened to the album yet, so I can't comment on that (even if the single sounded lame by Body Count standards), but I agree it's one of your best reviews, dude!

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"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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01.07.2014 - 03:29
UPDIRNS

Not my thing, but different from most stuff out now and kind of fun to listen to for a short while.
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01.07.2014 - 10:33
Rating: 4
R Lewis

If you were looking for somebody to loudly disagree, here I am. Sorry, but I couldn't take this stuff seriously for more than a minute, it just sounds like a giant joke to me. Seriously, these guys talk shit. Therefore, they get shot.
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We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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01.07.2014 - 17:31
Rating: 8
Michaelis

Maybe not to listen on iPod but this is nice album. I got sentimental attachment for Ice-T from teenage years...
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01.07.2014 - 18:45
BlueMobius
Account deleted
Written by R Lewis on 01.07.2014 at 10:33

If you were looking for somebody to loudly disagree, here I am. Sorry, but I couldn't take this stuff seriously for more than a minute, it just sounds like a giant joke to me. Seriously, these guys talk shit. Therefore, they get shot.


Lyrics are obviously commentary on the social situations in the United States' ghettos. There literally are people shot and sometimes killed in incidents stemming from verbal altercations. These lyrics may have no bearing on your life in Italy, but that doesn't mean they don't have meaning to someone living in a different social situation than you.
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01.07.2014 - 18:49
Malignar

Definitely not nu metal. Much more of thrash influence and even a hint of death metal in a few of the chords. Really heavy stuff, I enjoy it.
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01.07.2014 - 19:02
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Malignar on 01.07.2014 at 18:49

Definitely not nu metal.


Nowhere does it say that this is nu metal.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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01.07.2014 - 20:29
Ag Fox
Angel No More
Very convincing review (=
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loves 小巫
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01.07.2014 - 22:39
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 01.07.2014 at 19:02

Written by Malignar on 01.07.2014 at 18:49

Definitely not nu metal.


Nowhere does it say that this is nu metal.

No, he's just agreeing with what I said in the intro. I thought that anyone unfamiliar with Body Count would look at this band with a well-known rapper as the lead singer and assume it was some kind of nu metal.
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"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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01.07.2014 - 22:41
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by R Lewis on 01.07.2014 at 10:33

Sorry, but I couldn't take this stuff seriously for more than a minute, it just sounds like a giant joke to me.

I'd say people who listen to Rhapsody Of Fire in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, but I know what you mean.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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01.07.2014 - 22:42
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
^ shots fired
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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01.07.2014 - 22:42
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Ag Fox on 01.07.2014 at 20:29

Very convincing review (=

Thanks!
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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01.07.2014 - 23:07
Rating: 4
R Lewis

Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 01.07.2014 at 22:41

I'd say people who listen to Rhapsody Of Fire in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, but I know what you mean.

Touché
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We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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02.07.2014 - 04:15
Rulatore

Written by R Lewis on 01.07.2014 at 10:33

If you were looking for somebody to loudly disagree, here I am. Sorry, but I couldn't take this stuff seriously for more than a minute, it just sounds like a giant joke to me. Seriously, these guys talk shit. Therefore, they get shot.

that pun
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02.07.2014 - 05:01
Rating: 7
Ilham
Giant robot
You need a compliment for your review, sir. Would you have been explaining I should get in your van because you had candy, I would have. I'm listening to this right way.
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02.07.2014 - 12:44
Zombie94

Listened to first few seconds of 'Talk Shit, Get Shot' and turned off. I understand the appeal of mixing the two aggressive styles of rap and metal together, but I can never find anyone who pulls it off in style, as opposed to cringe.
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02.07.2014 - 13:06
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Ilham on 02.07.2014 at 05:01

You need a compliment for your review, sir. Would you have been explaining I should get in your van because you had candy, I would have. I'm listening to this right way.

I promise to use my powers of persuasion for metal and not for evil, except in those instances when the two are the same.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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02.07.2014 - 14:01
Rating: 7
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 02.07.2014 at 13:06
I promise to use my powers of persuasion for metal and not for evil, except in those instances when the two are the same.

Too bad.

The title track is awesome, and Institutionalized is hilarious. It didn't take me long to like it.
I was always reluctant to try Body Count, although I have listened to more than a couple Ice-T solo albums. I'm going to listen to that controverted Cop Killer album that I heard about many times.
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02.07.2014 - 16:19
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Damn, I'm listening to some of the tracks and shiiiiiieeeeeeeet.

Zack, eat your heart out because Ice-T is rocking this motherfucker.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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02.07.2014 - 19:40
Mattybu

Pretty good review SS, I'm interested in checking this one out. For some reason I have a certain level of skepticism about it, because an actual really good crossover album doesn't come along too often, but that being said I think Ice T's mindset was in the right place for this album, based on some interviews I read.
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06.07.2014 - 07:55
Jtbmetal123

This is a great review for the album. Its better than what people think.
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