Body Count Rising: Ice-T's Controversial Cop-Killers are Back.

Scene Magazine recently called them the forefathers of Rap/Metal music. They pissed off your parents (and anyone else in a position of officious authority) in the early nineties with their controversial song "Cop Killer". So, where have they been?

Their debut album Body Count (1992, featuring 'Cop Killer') was as successful as it was controversial. The latter was such that the Warner Bros label was forced to terminate their association with the group in spite of the commercial success.

In two and three year intervals the group released two albums, Born Dead and Violent Demise: The Last Days. Neither of which achieved the commercial success of their debut album (though Violent Demise was well received by critics). Fans however still lined up to see the "Cop Killers" themselves as they toured consistently throughout the US and Europe in the nineties.

So where are they? The band has been on a forced hiatus for the past nine years due to break-ups, replacements, and deaths (drummer Beastmaster of leukemia in 97', bassist Mooseman in a drive-by shooting in February 01', guitarist D-Roc from lymphoma in 04'). But Ice-T has resuscitated the band with the only other original member Ernie-C and their comeback album Murder 4 Hire was released August of last year. Though the line-up of Body Count has been forcibly revised, their latest album still evokes the same spirit of intended controversy as their early nineties debut.

Slowly but surely they have been making live appearances again. Last summer they gave an in-song shout out to Conan O'Brien as they performed their newest tracks as guests on his show. Their last gig was at the legendary Peabody's Concert Club in Cleveland on 1/27. Having purportedly brought the house down, the band has leisurely scheduled another gig in late March. Unless you live in Pennsylvania you'll just have to wait. For the time being Body Count's only scheduled US show will be at the Crocodile Rock Café in Allentown, PA on March 31.

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Body Count will also be kicking off a small European tour August 7 in Stockholm, Sweden. The tour is expected to last throughout that month. The culmination will be their appearance in the UK at the annual Reading and Leeds weekend festival. They will be hitting the stage on August 25 with Thursday, Rise Against, Hundred Reasons and many more. You'll have to contact Ticketsmyway.com for purchasing details regarding their European events. Keep an eye on Ticketsmyway.com as well as Body Count's official myspace page for this and future US appearances.