Youth Code: Noise, Love, and Survival.

Ryan George

Sara Taylor

Brooklyn got scorched. Youth Code, the feral industrial duo of Sara Taylor and Ryan George, erupted on stage at Gold Sounds in what marked The Return of the CODE — their first performance tied to new material in four years. The occasion? Yours, With Malice — their latest EP out May 16 via Sumerian Records.

The sold-out show was nothing short of cathartic. From the first blast of distortion, the set felt like a release valve for four years of pent-up tension. Sara’s caustic vocals tore through the mix, a visceral counterpoint to Ryan’s pummeling electronics and surgical programming. Together, they delivered a brutal and tightly wound set that reminded everyone why Youth Code remains one of the most vital forces in modern industrial music.

What’s striking about Sara and Ryan — beyond the sheer force of their sound — is how they move through the world offstage. Gracious, grounded, and visibly close, their dynamic offsets the harshness of their music with something intimate. It’s that contrast — ferocity layered over tenderness — that becomes the quiet pulse behind the noise.

“Being in a band with the love of your life is not easy,” Sara said in a recent interview, laughing. “It’s a consistent exercise of patience, love, and understanding.” That sentiment resonates far beyond the stage — a reflection of the care and humanity that underpins even their most abrasive output.

Their legacy already looms large — especially after 2016’s Commitment to Complications, produced by industrial heavyweight Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly. That record solidified their reputation as genre disruptors, welding hardcore intensity to EBM architecture with uncompromising clarity.

Now, after a period of slowing down and reevaluating, Youth Code returns with Yours, With Malice — an EP they see as both a reset and a statement. “The world has changed since the last time we put a record out,” Ryan noted. “An EP felt like the right way to test the waters.” The project was initiated by Sumerian Records, a label whose direction aligned with the duo’s current vision.

The music remains signature Youth Code: raw, stripped-down electronics built for impact. But their listening habits reflect a broader spectrum — “It could be me listening to Charli XCX,” Sara joked, “and Ryan playing Youth of Today.” That friction pop curiosity meeting hardcore roots — fuels their evolving chemistry.

And for all the chaos their music conjures, connection is what drives them. “I want to be the best version of myself when I meet people that dig what we do,” Sara added. “It’s a sense of community.”

Abrasive doesn’t begin to cover it — this was confrontation as communion. And judging by the crowd’s feral energy, that’s exactly what they came for.

With Yours, With Malice cracking open a new chapter, The Return of the CODE feels less like a return to form and more like a signal: they’re still here, still evolving, and still deeply in love — with each other, with the noise, and with the people who show up to feel it with them.