Words by Donna Borges
October 21, 2025
I used to believe that it was impossible to find a young local band that has a solid grasp on their sound, let alone one that’s moving and complex. However, Mildred’s album Pt. 1 has disproven my old belief and leads me to believe I found the needle in the haystack. They are experimental in a way that allows them to blend aspects of so many genres into a cohesive record. I was prompted to listen to this record after meeting Mildred’s very own Sebastian at a show I hosted, immediately drawn in after I was told the album was two hours long.
Self-proclaimed post-rock, post-hardcore, post-pretty-much-everything, Mildred is truly a force to be reckoned with. Over 20 people are credited on the record, seemingly representative of all the elements at play throughout Pt. 1.
Be warned, it’s not an easy listen by any means. It sweeps you in waves; at times it is dark and brooding and at others it’s ethereal, simultaneously beautiful and anxiety-inducing at all times. It feels incredibly daunting to describe, layered with esoteric storylines that seem to tackle the complacency of our society and our collective desperation to escape nihilism.
It starts off with a bang, focusing on heavy pensive instrumentals layered with skramz-style vocals. The first few songs focus on a sort of gothic imagery to tell stories of personal tragedy in “Hung” and otherworldly catastrophy in “Dance of Death.” “Babel” and “Ichkeria” break the album in half, providing a bit of relief from the sonic heaviness so far but not letting up on the emotional front.
While the first half of the album focused on an egocentric cynicism, themes of unrequited love, grief, and abandonment are at the forefront of the second half. It brings the energy down a bit – focusing on more atmospheric shoegaze and mellow sounds as the nihilistic sentiments intensify through heartbreak. Everything leads to “Lila’s Death,” what I interpret to be the culmination of the record and a statement on the human condition.
I can’t touch on every song, but my personal favorites are Hung, Drifter’s Rebirth, What It Feels Like To Discover A Mass Suicide, Almost Blue, and Lila’s Death. The lyricism of this album reads like poetry, and I recommend reading along on Bandcamp to get the full effect. I want to note that there’s a lot of lore behind the story that’s being told in Mildred’s music that I am not particularly familiar with yet – so I’ll leave it up to you to dive in and learn yourself as I will be doing in the future.
You can listen to Pt. 1 below, and get updates from Mildred here.
