ALBUM REVIEW: Death of Youth – Nothing Is The Same Anymore

‘…a gripping and unapologetically aggressive listen, and feels surprisingly refreshing in a world of hyper-polished, commercial guitar-based music…’

South London melodic hardcore outfit Death of Youth have been building towards their debut LP for quite some time. What commenced as a personal bedroom project back in 2018 to process the breakup of a relationship, the band would continue a steady flow of releases through to 2021, before taking a period of rest.

Returning from this hiatus in 2024, the band was now a fully-fledged four-piece outfit, and spent 2025 writing and recording their debut LP, alongside playing a multitude of shows throughout southern England. Now, the band are finally ready to enter a brand new era, with the release of their debut LP, ‘Nothing Is The Same Anymore’.

What Death of Youth offer here is 00’s melodic hardcore for a modern world, and the result is a bombastic yet crushingly raw listening experience. Confronting gender roles, abuse, grief, and healing, the sonic aggression of this record is underpinned by a ferocious hope; the riffs are loud and the world is terrible, but unity and change are both possible.

‘Desensitised’ makes for an explosive opening number, with a surging instrumental that drives the track forwards beneath the rousing vocal declarations of Rob David. Deploring the complicity of men in the violence of their own kind, David’s confrontational, no-frills lyricism sets the tone perfectly for the record, and continues to maintain that tone throughout. ‘Fix Your Heart or Die’ is a thunderous anthem for trans rights, vicious screamed vocals and scorching riffs galloping forwards atop of buoyant rhythms that urge you to move.

‘The Inverse of Patriotism’ is a snarling punk cut that grapples with the UK’s slow decline into nationalistic fascism thanks to a fetishistic obsession with “the good old days”. It’s a sharp and vicious number that carries a real guttural weight, the riffs and percussion slamming down upon the listener repeatedly with a real sense of immensity. That righteous fury continues on ‘Performance Art’, as David declares the creative world an unsafe space for bigots, especially within the alternative domain. Discordant guitars climb upwards in a tense spiral, before crashing back down to earth with unparalleled brutality.

The record takes a turn for the introspective across the final two tracks, as the band reckon with the loss of a childhood friend, and the difficult process of healing from trauma. The instrumentals retain their rawness, but take on a shimmering, cinematic feel, as riffs paint soaring melodic passages beneath particularly compelling vocal performances from David. It’s a wonderful tonal shift at the record’s conclusion that still feels cohesive with the rest of the narrative. The closing title track in particular is something special, ending the album on a piercing ray of hope.

Ferocious and compelling, ‘Nothing Is The Same Anymore’ offers a listening experience that will appeal to those nostalgic for the hardcore scene of the late 00’s, and those looking for something that bites back at the state of the modern world. The record’s honest and confrontational nature makes for a gripping and unapologetically aggressive listen, and feels surprisingly refreshing in a world of hyper-polished, commercial guitar-based music. There is real and bright potential here.

RATING: 77/100

For Fans Of: Enter Shikari, We Are The Ocean, La Dispute, Chalk Hands, Touché Amoré

Physical copies of the record are available to purchase here.

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Bandcamp