Manslaughter
Body Count
(Sumerian)
Three stars
The uncompromising Los Angeles rap-metal crew Body Count clearly haven't gone soft in the eight years since their last album. Fronted by the gangsta rapper and actor Ice-T (real name: Tracy Lauren Marrow), they've lost little of the violent aesthetic that saw the band pilloried in 1992 for the controversial song Cop Killer. Manslaughter's opener Talk ****, Get Shot threatens real-world justice on online haters, setting the tough tone for 50 minutes of muscular metal led by Ice-T's NSFW rhymes. At 56, the rapper hasn't mellowed, whether he's dispensing self-help for scumbags (Back to Rehab and Get a Job) or ranting that "guys have gone from [the Public Enemy song] Fight the Power to what does Kim Kardashian have on today" on Pop Bubble. Better still is 99 Problems BC, an update of the Ice-T song that inspired Jay Z's more famous riff on the titular subject. It's unlikely to propel Body Count far beyond the realms of their existing fan base, but in staying true to the band's aggressive world view, Manslaughter is mostly killer and little filler.
aworkman@thenational.ae
