Body Count - Carnivore (2020)^{Release ID: 17661}

Every few years I am always perplexed when I see a new Body Count album released and the leadoff single/cover get tossed into every new metal playlist on spotify. And I wonder how they even got there. It was quite obvious to me that during their 2010s revival and the album Manslaughter that this was a comedic act; not meant to be taken seriously. They modernized the song “Institutionalized” by the Suicidal Tendencies for god sake!

Anyway, here’s the album Carnivore and I can tell that albums like this are gonna get eaten up by the meatheads of the world with its over the top hyperviolence. But then this album has two very strange moments of contemplation. The first being a cover of “Ace of Spades” by Motorhead, the other is “When I’m Gone” featuring Amy Lee, dedicated to Nipsey Hussle and the overall message of the song is bizarre. I guess in the context of the album it fits, but it isn’t much of a dedication song. More of a “You’ll only care about me when I’m dead” song, a very selfish, nihilistic way of looking at it.

Jamey Jasta does some guest vocals on “Another Level” which did not fit at all over the slow groove, he would have fit better over a song such as “No Remorse”. An Ice-T as a performer is very bare bones with this hyper aggressive beatdown stuff. Not reinventing the wheel in any way, but again: novelty act. They don’t need to invent anything.

What it all boils down to is a pretty weak album overall. The album is called Carnivore because it is the blandest meat and potatoes metal album I’ve heard in quite some time. No need to feast on this meat for very long.