Death Lens might be the perfect punk band for the moment: four working class, multicultural musicians from Southern California who write stage-dive anthems for the oppressed, wielding a message of resilience and a sound of sweat-soaked celebration that appeals to outsiders of all stripes. What’s Left Now?, their first album since 2024’s Cold World and their second for Epitaph Records, is Death Lens’ most fully-realized record yet: crunchy, urgent, melancholy, raging, and so goddamn easy to headbang along to.
What’s Left Now? is the product of two tumultuous years for Death Lens, both as people and as bandmates. The year Cold World dropped, the band toured for nine long months, honing their craft as live performers and increasing their fanbase tenfold. However, all of that time on the road stress-tested the band as an interpersonal unit, and Death Lens ended up shedding two members from the subsequent growing pains. Ultimately, they bounced back stronger than ever, gaining guitar virtuoso Ernie Gutierrez into the core lineup of frontman Bryan Torres, guitarist Jhon Reyes, and drummer Tony Rangel. Now, Death Lens are closer as friends and more musically in-sync than they’ve ever been, and What’s Left Now? is a testament to their glow-up.
“Every time we feel like we’re gonna implode, we end up expanding,” Torres exclaims. “We thrive on stress and the energy of anxiety.”
What’s Left Now? is an honest record by a band who’ve always cut the bullshit. Growing up in lower-income homes 20 miles east of Los Angeles, Death Lens’ members weren’t afforded the privilege to effortlessly ascend in the music scene. They’ve had to grind for every opportunity they’ve gotten, and they continue to write music for people just like them. “Our messaging is towards those who always feel like they don’t have a voice,” Torres explains.
Their new record includes songs about first breakups (“Am I A Drug to You?”) and learning to be genuinely, uncomfortably true to yourself (“Out of My Skin”), but also tracks about trials that are far more challenging to conquer. “Saints in the Panic Room” speaks to a present-day nightmare that Death Lens’ own families and communities are facing on U.S. soil. “I’m talking about the ICE raids, things close to home,” Torres says. “Immigrant families who don’t have papers. These are the struggles that we talk about every day.”
What’s Left Now? captures that dichotomy with creativity and candor. A fist-pumping punk-rock escape, and a hard dose of reality. Because for Death Lens, one doesn’t exist without the other.
