Ice-T Says Dave Mustaine Wants to Write a Song with Body Count: “He’s Got at Us Already”

We’ve known for a minute that Ice-T’s hardcore/metal/metalcore outfit Body Count were in the studio as early as February 2022 to work on Merciless, the follow up to 2020’s Carnivore, and it sounds like we have a lot to be excited for based on a new interview between the rapper/frontman and Metal Hammer.

Ice-T says Body Count are about halfway through the record and that progress is going well.

“We’re nine songs in, and we’re gonna put 15 on the album. It hasn’t been the easiest album to record, simply because we’re coming off the heels of [2020’s] Carnivore. It was a great, award-winning record and we never got to perform it. Playing songs on the road is usually what inspires your next album, so we came into this kinda cold, from a dead space.”

According to the interview, Merciless will be harder and more personal than Carnivore was, an impressive feat considering that they won a Grammy for the album’s single “Bum Rush.”

“I think we are staying in the same direction. Manslaughter was a reintroduction to Body Count, not to just our old fans, but to a whole new group. Bloodlust was even better than Manslaughter, and Carnivore was better than Bloodlust. We’re going to stay in the same vein, sound and production, but make better and better records.”

Like with other Body Count albums that included spots from Jamey Jasta, Max Cavalera, Amy Lee and Randy Blythe, Merciless will feature guest performances, possibly from Dave Mustaine, according to Ice-T.

“Dave Mustaine has got at us already. He wants to write a song. Dave worked with us on Bloodlust – he did ‘Civil War.’ But usually what we do with a Body Count album is make it first by ourselves, then call in people.”

Whenever Merciless drops, I’m sure it will once again be the most fun album of the year.