Ice T has confirmed that his hardcore band Body Count have begun recording a new studio album titled ‘Merciless’.

The band’s most recent album, ‘Carnivore’, came out in March of 2020, and the rapper has hinted at an even more extreme sound on the next record.

“I’m proud to say we just finished the FIRST day of writing, recording and track selection for the New BC Album ‘MERCILESS’,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Only one goal…” he said of the forthcoming album. “It’s gotta be HARDER than the last….” He then confirmed: “It already is.”

☠️BODY COUNT NEWS☠️ I’m proud to say we just finished the FIRST day of writing, recording and track selection for the New BC Album ‘MERCILESS’ Only one goal… “ It’s gotta be HARDER than the last…. It already is. @BodyCountBand @centurymediaeu pic.twitter.com/COleTGwV29

— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) February 19, 2022

Reviewing 2020’s ‘Carnivore’, NME wrote: “Body Count’s last album, 2017’s excellent ‘Bloodlust’, played out against a backdrop of high-profile police brutality and the blacklisting of American football player Colin Kaepernick by the NFL, which made stone cold belters like ‘No Lives Matter’ and ‘Civil War’ all the more potent.

“Parts of ‘Carnivore’ lack the same bite and pointed barb of its predecessor. ‘When I’m Gone’, which features Evanescence’s Amy Lee, groans towards dated nu-metal and the dark humour of ‘Thee Critical Beatdown’ and ‘No Remorse’ feel like directionless rants into the ether. Yet there are several stand-out tracks. ‘Bum Rush’ takes aim at everything from Trump to the Flint water crisis between squealing leads from guitarist Ernie C.”

‘Carnivore’ track ‘Bum-Rush’ was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Elsewhere, Ice T recently called David Bowie “a real one” after a viral MTV clip of the star did the rounds online again.

The video is taken from a 1983 interview with MTV in which Bowie calls out MTV for the lack of Black artists on its playlist.