SOLDIERS 'End of Days' (Trustkill) RATING: 5.5/10

By JEFF MAKI

All of the legendary hardcore bands had unique things that made them great. Minor Threat had the straight-edge message behind their music and an iconic frontman in Ian Mackaye. Bad Brains infused their culture with hardcore and also had the recognizable H.R. as vocalist. And to a lesser but still important extent, Biohazard was one of the first bands to combine hardcore, metal and hip-hop. And so on ...

So many hardcore bands these days are merely recycling ideas and sounds with a generic vocalist screaming at the top of his lungs. The Long Island band Soldiers, which features members of This Is Hell, is one of these bands. Everything is here on their album, End of Days, out now on Trustkill Records: angst-fueled hardcore with breakdowns, gang vocals and everything else I said above. Lead vocalist Rick Jimenez spits out his lyrics with conviction, but it all sounds the same to me, adding nothing new to the genre.

I won't claim to be an expert, but fans of hardcore music are some of the most loyal and honest fans in the world. They rally behind a certain band and form a tight-knit family within the scene because the band's ideas and beliefs are the same as theirs. There is a strong message behind the music, and this always seems to be the underlying theme. Soldiers may have a strong message they're trying to convey, but I just don't hear or see it. Sure, they're not backing down, they have too much pride, they don't care what anyone says and they're going to rise up against. But backing down from what? Fighting against what? What do they stand for? The lyrics here are so generic that it's pretty much pointless drivel. If this band is truly trying to make a statement, then let's get more specific with the lyrical content—tell us the stories of how you came to feel this way and what you're lashing out against. Give fans a reason to stand behind your band and your ideals. Otherwise, you can talk all the shit you want and be pissed off at everyone, but it's all for naught.

Musically, Soldiers seems to have the chops, but honestly, without anything clearly behind the music, I can't tell them apart from 50 other hardcore bands, past or present.