Milemarker on purevolume™

Rock / Indie / Post Hardcore

New album "Ominosity" in OUT NOW on Eyeball Records.
PURCHASE @ The Eyeball Store

Milemarker was formed in 1997 from the ashes of various southeastern hardcore bands. The names of these bands are not as important (you either remember them or you don't, and chances are you don't) as was the shared point of view fostered in founding members Dave Laney, Ben Davis, and Al Burian: fierce commitment to the self-reliance and community ethic of the hardcore punk scene, combined with confrontational musical challenges to the conventions and limitations of that same genre. Keyboards, samplers, video projection, pyrotechnics, French- anything which might shock the audience's sensibility and preconceived expectation was used.

Milemarker put out five albums in the first four years of their existence; the sound of the band solidified from esoteric artyness into driving electro-punk, focused on the tension between melodic danceability and the primal power of screaming and breaking guitars over each others heads. The band toured constantly, managing to pull off six US tours, four European tours and a trip to Japan by the end of 2002. The touring line up had been amorphous from the beginning, with drummer Sean Husick filling in for Ben as early as the second US tour, Roby Newton joining and quitting at various points, and a slew of other people pitching in or tagging along.

All of this activity took its inevitable toll. After years of relentless productivity and the bludgeoning self-abuse of non-stop travel, Milemarker had an audience, notoriety, records on reputable labels- and the big question was, so what? Was this the goal the band had sought? And to what end? What, if anything, had all of this crazy behavior achieved?

It was at this point that band guru and existential advisor Ingo Ebeling stepped in, with a suggestion: "Why don't you slow down? Why not take your time writing a record for a change?"

That turned out to be good advice. "Ominosity", Milemarker's fifth full-length, is by far their most realized, and possibly the first to truly represent what Milemarker is "going for". The collectivist element of the band is at its most pronounced, with original members Davis, Burian and Laney all present, as well as drummer Noah Leger (who has been playing with the band since 2001), second drummer Tony Lazzara, and various other members of the extended MM musical community making contributions.

"Ominosity" will be out in October 2005. The recharged, revitalized Milemarker will embark on a US tour in November, crushing audiences into a thin paste against the back wall of clubs around the nation. Come check it out.