Mile End – 2023 Promo | EP Review

It's safe to say this Brampton, Ontario four piece are making big moves in 2023.

Mile End from the Flower City of Brampton, Ontario, Canada have been making waves since their inception in 2018. That is even more a fact coming out of 2021. Over the last couple years these Candian young-ins have been busting their behinds while putting all their blood, sweat, and tears into some of the best hardcore the nation has seen in some time. Today you’ll see the band has since  signed with independent label, New Morality Zine Records, to put out a spectacular 4 track demo promo titled respectively 2023 Promo. Complete with an intro interlude that fades into a brand new track and two recently released singles, along with a small North American tour with Do-FlameB, it’s safe to say Mile End are making massive strides this year.

Opening the promo is the new track ‘Stay Still’. Full of wicked guitar and pounding percussion, it sets the tone for this release perfectly. Vocalist, Jake Thompson, does not shy away one bit either with a powerful vocal display that is easily recognizable if you are aware of or a fan of the band. Taking hold of everything that makes Ontario Hardcore great and cranking it up a notch by adding metalcore and even beatdown influence to the mix, the young Canadian metalers seem to set the bar to unimaginable heights with this one.

With that being said, we hit the second song on the record, titled “Avarice”, which is just as heavy hitting as the last. Bringing a more upfront hardcore approach to this one, it gives off a bit of Momentum and Incendiary influence while adding hints of more modern hardcore and metalcore like Inclination to change things up a bit. Not only is this a great track on record, but it’s also that resonates well in a live setting as the band has had nothing but positive vibes when they add this one to any set-list they’ve had it on.

If you happen to be from Ontario, Canada and you like hardcore, you are sure to know this Brampton anthem by now. If by some chance you don’t, this 3rd and final track is the Flower City hardcore anthem titled ‘FCHC’. It’s a crowd pleaser and a mainstay in the band’s live shows since its release in the fall of 2022. It totes what the band is all about both on and off the stage. Like a lot of hardcore bands since the dawn of it inception, these four love their city and make a point of that on this short yet sweet single. Flower City Hardcore has been flourishing due in part to bands like Mile End putting it on such a pedestal. ‘FCHC’ is already a cult classic among Ontario Hardcore and you can find almost everybody at any Mile End gig dog-pile during the massive break at the end of the track when Thompson  shouts “THIS IS FOR FLOWER CITY”, basically begging him for that perfect mic grab moment