REVIEW: Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services

We dare to believe there is a place for us in this world.

36:22 // June 27th, 2025 // Relapse Records

Basketball über-legend Michael Jordan wears many faces; ferocious competitor, fashion icon, athletic boogeyman, degenerate gambler, bald, you name it. Jason Hehir’s 2020 documentary The Last Dance went into granular detail to showcase just how isolating it could be to live behind His Airness’s eyes, as arguably the most famous man in America was reduced to holing up in expansive hotel suites to avoid adulating throngs of overzealous fans that followed his every step. It was akin to clocking a 9 to 5 inside of a pressure cooker, but materialized as a welcome pressure for Jordan, because it enabled his never-ending love affair with basketball. This obsession was so fixed that he even managed to get a “love of the game” clause onto his contract in writing, which enabled him to play basketball anywhere, any time, with anyone, for any reason. Both the blessings and the challenges presented by his stardom were small potatoes; the game was an end in itself.

While it may initially seem like a stretch, I see parallels in the story of Deadguy. Why would a band that lasted for only three years, underwent frequent personnel changes, was consistently undermined by management, and embarked on two of the most infamously dysfunctional tours in hardcore history step back onto the court? Near-Death Travel Services, the group’s first release in 29 years, offers the answer listeners seek, packaged deep within its unrelenting aggression, and more importantly, its liveliness. The creative expression and camaraderie that defined the band’s reformed original lineup remains a sufficient telos, and as the contagious murderous intent of Near-Death Travel Services indicates, Deadguy haven’t lost a beat.

As far as artistic evolution is concerned, you’re not likely to find much that has taken place since 1995’s seminal Fixation On A Coworker. As far as your expectations are concerned, fret not, because Deadguy’s unflinching commitment to their core musical values is exactly what makes their sophomore effort such a spleen-punching good time. New additions include a more polished production style courtesy of the inimitable Steve Evetts, as well as a more streamlined approach to songwriting that pays dividends by making the record sound effortlessly focused and sharp at every turn. Where Coworker cuts like “Riot Stairs” opted for pregnant pauses and buildups of suspense in between knuckle sandwiches, Near-Death Travel Services induces a kind of euphoric claustrophobia by refusing to let the listener come up for breath in any capacity. The group’s steadfast adherence to good old fashioned standard tuning gives them no crutch to rely on for increased heaviness, making their only option to give it all they’ve fucking got for all 36 earth-shattering minutes of the record.

From the moment Tim Singer’s initial unmistakable howls kick off the rollicking “Kill Fee”, the degree to which he and the instrumentalists are surrendered to the groove must truly be heard to be believed. Versatility is not the album’s strong suit, but it’s tracks like “Kill Fee”, as well as the punishing “Knife Sharpener” and “All Stick & No Carrot” that demonstrate why variance is not a necessity for Deadguy. Pop in, melt everybody’s fucking faces off, evaporate before anyone even realizes what happened, repeat approximately once every three decades. The record is up front and unapologetic about its hardcore leanings, and is most successful when its jagged riffing and cutting drums are hard at work propelling eardrums toward the fattest breakdown this side of New Brunswick. Curiously, it’s when the band attempt to wear a different skin that their product suffers the most, with misguided closer “Wax Princess” serving as the most salient example, due to its wildly ill-advised AI text-to-speech ramble section that was inexplicably chosen as the conclusion of the album.

Philosopher-king and mystical shaman Geddy Lee once mused, “the more that things change, the more they stay the same.” Near-Death Travel Services proves that Deadguy have learned from the Canadian bard’s pithy observation, and sees them come together to pummel elderly punks at the local assisted living facility for the love of the game and nothing more. Its key ingredients of thoughtless fun and a return to sticks and stones may be what limit it from achieving true greatness, but they’re also the aspects of the record’s sound that have compelled me to queue it up on my morning runs over…and over…and over again. Adversity didn’t have the final say over Deadguy, and it doesn’t have to rule over you either. Whether you’re dealing with the pressure of fame, returning to reignite the flame of a passion project that felt permanently in the rearview mirror, or building a publication from the ground up, the ethos of Near-Death Travel Services will have something to teach you. Just make sure you listen closely, because your ears will definitely be ringing.

7.5/10.

Yo Yo, check out these highlight tracks:

-”Kill Fee”

-”Knife Sharpener”

-”All Stick & No Carrot”