Daily Staff Writer

“Violent Demise: The Last Days”

Body Count

Ice-T may just be the shiftiest person involved in the entertainment industry. Not only is he a great rapper and a decent actor, he is a great headbanger as well. His heavy-metal group Body Count has outlasted everyone’s expectations.

There is nothing as blatantly offensive as “Cop Killer” on “Violent Demise.” There are a lot of divergent themes, however, including violence, crime, racism, sex and love (but only as a means to get sex). But the biggest draw is profanity and there is a lot of it.

Songs such as “My Way” (featuring the horrible singing of Raw Breed), “Truth or Death” and “Violent Demise” are rather pathetic. The guitar riffs are all top notch but the lyrics and singing are really sad.

“Bring It To Pain” provides a vivid description of a sexual encounter that comes complete with a groaning woman and perverse lyrics.

But that is timid compared to what follows on “Root Of All Evil,” “Dead Man Walking” and “You’re Fucking With B.C.” All of these songs rely completely on profanity and no real substance.

However, there are a few decent songs included. “I Used To Love Her” features the kick-ass drumming of the late Beatmaster V, who died of leukemia shortly after recording the CD.

“Last Days” is a sprawling, epic song that has an excellent chorus. “Dr. K” is the hardest, most cohesive song on the disc and has great synthesizer effects and violent guitar riffs. Imagine the atmosphere of early Motorhead teeming with vintage Pantera and multiply the angst exponentially and you’ve got the idea.

Overall, Body Count provides a fairly enjoyable musical experience. The group also provides enough sexual humor and profanity to keep young children laughing for hours.

Unfortunately, this detracts from Ice-T’s insurmountable knowledge concerning the dangers of racism, governmental power and his bullseye view of reality. But the ancient Greeks would have loved it (even if they would have considered it comedy).

2 1/2 stars out of five.

— Ben Jones