Ice T and his band of rockers return for their sixth studio release ‘Bloodlust’ and they’ve got many a message for the masses in this most turbulent time. Yes, this is firstly a metal album fronted by a man undoubtedly best known for his hip hop success, but behind the brutal riffs and epic guitar solos it’s much, much more.
From the mock public service announcement of a new American ‘Civil War’ that kicks off proceedings, which itself might not feel quite as far flung as it once did, to Ice T’s first words “It’s already started” he sets out discussing a number of the world’s most important topics including the black lives matter movement, police brutality and class wars between the population. While this might all sound a bit ‘heavy’ for a metal album these are important subjects that need to spoken and shouted about as much as possible, and what better way to do so than the medium of metal.
Technically the album is perfect throughout and is wrapped together in a perfect package. The drums are tight, the riffs will blow your mind in places and the breakdowns and solos round off everything you could possibly want from a metal record. There’s even time for them to show off: Body Count explain that they only started the band to let their buddy (and the band’s guitarist) Ernie C to play guitar because he was a huge fan, before treating us to a brutal cover of Slayer’s ‘Raining Blood’, played with precision that does the original justice.
There might be a lot of people out there who don’t even know Ice T fronts a metal band, but those people are undoubtedly missing out on one of the best bands around. Not only do they have more than 25 years experience as a band, but with the messages they are conveying they’ve never been more relevant than they are now.
CHRISTOPHER LEE