SYS records has been holding the banner very high in Northern Ireland with a roster of acts mainly in the hardcore genre. Also the label likes to delve back into the days of old when CDs were non existent as this release from Milestones is being put out on hand screen printed cassette only and limited to 100 copies. Modernistic demands mean incorporating a download code, though I wonder how many people still own a tape deck these days (I do I might add), though SYS has sent me this to review via a CD but I wished they’d sent me a tape instead damn it.

Milestones hail from Dublin and have been around since April 2011 but were around in a previous act called Out Of Nowhere. Since that time the band has released one demo and an EP; the “Blood” demo is free to download. Snippets I’ve heard of previous material shows that “Entropy” possesses a sharper but enriched sound of melodic hardcore that uses gang chant vocalising to good effect. The lead vocals have an angry but definable edge as I detected a bit of New York feistiness within them. The opening tune “Still Organs” shows this very well, with bounce driven riffs being backed by raging guitar work. “Premonitions” begins with a prime time hard core snare roll and using a post hardcore guitar quality. Musically this is at the fringes of mainstream hardcore and acceptability. There are no barraging bursts of speed here like true hardcore; the focus is on delivering colourful well placed guitar riffs alongside wrath filled vocals.

As the release goes into “Old Hands” my foot was tapping nicely to the riff and beat. I did question the sadism in the vocals with the tune being fairly lightweight and uplifting. The accompanying bass lines are definitely hardcore as the song bursts into life with a cracking beat and pace, harnessing melody and aggression equally. The strain on the vocals during “Graveside” may be deliberate but for me they made the tune suffer slightly. The riffing and rhythm kicking drum work inject a tuneful fury into the song I found very agreeable. The very catchy “Pound Of Flesh” is very modern sounding with Comeback Kid being a prime reference point for this and a lot of the music on offer here. The song varies between slower thought provoking sections to all out hardcore head-caving lunacy. The last song here is also the longest “Ladders” that has a soft start with powerful emotive singing leading into a gang chant that builds to a crescendo for the riff insertion. The vocals are dropped for the trouncing to take place, returning once it’s safe to do so. Again the guitar work is graced with a great deal of colours and flavours and is predominantly post-hardcore.

Reviewing material like this for the site is something I enjoy and though it’s not to everyone’s taste a little branching out does no harm even if you just listen to a few songs on Bandcamp to give it a try. If you don’t like it at least you can say you’ve had your ears opened very wide indeed otherwise check out the labels other stuff, it’s worth investigating via the link below. 

(7/10 Martin Harris)

http://milestonesdublin.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/milestonesdublin

http://savouryourscenerecords.bigcartel.com