Ice-T’s thrash metal outfit Body Count have uploaded a new music video for “Point The Finger,” which features guest vocalist Riley Gale from the crossover thrash group Power Trip. This latest music video was recorded during the quarantine on the band member’s cellphones, with some editing and production added by Jay Rodriguez for Itchy House Films.
Ice-T opened up the music video with a brief monologue discussing how he is personally dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the video’s background. The song is a hard hitting thrash metal track, blending Gale’s harsh shouted vocals with Ice-T’s more rap inspired vocal delivery.
The song’s lyrics tackle police brutality, particularly cases where police have been involve in the shooting deaths of African-American youth. It also calls out systemic injustices during police officer involved shootings, especially a culture of victim blaming, where those who are killed by police are blamed for their own deaths rather than the police officers.
Ice-T began his career in hip hop detailing similar injustices, however his transition into thrash metal has taken these themes into a new audience. The group’s most recent album Carnivore is a rare look into an interpersonal black experience from a thrash metal perspective, retaining the a punk spirit which is deeply embedded into the genre’s roots.
“In both of his musical endeavors, he’s found inspiration in the unfair treatment of Black people, but Body Count’s newest album tries to show some love to those who have fallen as well. Yet since the world hasn’t changed, their themes haven’t changed, but their new record Carnivore offers more in a lot in regard to current relevancy,” mxdwn reviewer Cervante Pope explained.