martindavey87 Rapper Ice-T and his merry men are back with Body Count’s third studio album, ‘Violent Demise: The Last Days’. Released in 1997, it follows the disappointing ‘Born Dead’, which failed to capitalize on the unexpected and surprising success of the bands self-titled debut. However, with ‘Violent Demise’, the Californian gangsters return to the more brutal, cynical, yet tongue-in-cheek approach that made their first outing so unique for its time.

Starting off with a radio interview skit which sees the host attacking Ice-T over the poor reception of ‘Born Dead’, it’s evident that the group recognizes this and are setting out to rectify any issues. And they do it with a vengeance. With opening track, ‘My Way’, the band are instantly back to their aggressive and violent roots, with guitar riffs heavier than a tonne of concrete slabs and profanity-laden lyrics that will make your mother blush. Covering a host of traditional gangster rap subjects such as gang violence, racism and sex, the band are lashing out at society with both humour and pure hatred.

The musicianship itself is pretty good, and while this style of music isn’t typically known for virtuoso performances, the band members are tight, and the production gives the album a thick, punching sound that really re-establishes Body Count as a solid metal outfit. Ice-T’s vocals are a blend of rapping and generally shouting, but overall it works fantastically with the hardcore-inspired guitar riffs.

With the likes of ‘My Way’, ‘Violent Demise’, ‘Strippers’, ‘You’re Fuckin’ With BC’, ‘I Used to Love Her’ and ‘Dead Man Walking’, Body Count may not be able to recapture the mainstream success they had with their debut album, but it’s clear with ‘Violent Demise: The Last Days’ that this is a band who are more than just a side project, with well-written music of a high standard, this is a solid release that more than makes up for its predecessor.

UMUR "Violent Demise: The Last Days" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US heavy/crossover metal act Body Count. The album was released through Virgin Records in March 1997. There´s been one lineup change since "Born Dead (1994)", as bassist Mooseman has been replaced by Griz, who also handles loops and samples. "Violent Demise: The Last Days" would be the last Body Count album to feature drummer Beatmaster V, as he died of leukemia shortly after recording the album. The album is dedicated to him.

The music on "Violent Demise: The Last Days" is unmistakably the sound of Body Count. That means a hybrid rock/metal style which includes elements from rap, hardcore/punk, crossover thrash, traditional heavy metal, and blues. Calling this rap metal would be wrong, although several tracks on the album features rap style vocals, but Ice-T predominantly sings/shouts.

The 16 track, 46:09 minutes long album features both "regular" tracks and quite a few shorter intros/interludes. Typically with Ice-T talking about what the next track is about in a humourous fashion. The lyrical themes ranges from tales about gang violence/ghetto issues, social/political commentary, and bragging about sexual adventures ("Strippers" is for example quite explicit). The quality of the material is generally pretty high, and for the most part relatively metallic and aggressive in sound.

"Violent Demise: The Last Days" features a well sounding and powerful Howard Benson production, which suits the music well. The musicianship is also on a high level, and all in all "Violent Demise: The Last Days" is a pretty good quality release by Body Count. Definitely a step up from the rather disjointed "Born Dead (1994)". It doesn´t quite match the excellence of the debut album, but it´s still enjoyable in it´s own right and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.