Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services (Review)

This is the second album from US hardcore band Deadguy.

It’s been 30 years since 1995’s classic Fixation on a Coworker, which is so much time that I can’t even think about it. Onto more positive things then, which is the 37-minute Near-Death travel Services. A new Deadguy album was not something I expected, but here we are, and I’m extremely happy with it let me tell you.

Deadguy stomp and burn with their charismatic brand of hybrid metallic hardcore and mathcore. It’s great to hear new Deadguy material after soooooooo long, and the bad have apparently lost none of their idiosyncratic approach to songcraft. They sound like they have never been away, and all of the performances are on point. The singer sounds as distinct and individual a vocalist as he previously did, and both he and the rest of the band tear through these eleven new songs with passion and energy. Deadguy sound great, in every way.

It genuinely is almost like the last few decades haven’t happened. Near-Death Travel Experiences picks up exactly where Fixation on a Coworker left off. It is as characterful as you would want from Deadguy, full of angular riffs that hit hard and jagged hooks that cut deeper every time you listen to it.

The well-written songs take me back to the 90s, while also sounding perfectly at home in 2025. Quite simply, this is Deadguy, in all of their glory. The heaviness, the emotion, the dynamics, the riffs, the sound, the style, the pure unadulterated Deadguy-ness of it all…it’s Deadguy, through and through. If you know the band, then this is essentially Fixation on a Coworker V2.0, and I say that in an entirely positive way. Obviously it’s not the same album simply repeated, but it boasts the same winning formula. Near-Death Travel Experiences is a more than worthy successor to its illustrious predecessor, so do not, do not, oh do not miss out on this.

Essential listening for any mathcore/metal/hardcore fan anywhere.