Deadguy wasn't just a hardcore band from New Brunswick. Even in an era when hardcore had already crossed over into metal, sludge, doom, stoner rock, and a dozen other sub-genres, they were something special, and arguably one of the most influential New Jersey bands of any generation. The band formed in 1994, disbanded in 1997, and now they're back with their first new music in decades, Near-Death Travel Services . Three of Jersey Beat's writers chime in.
Richard Quinlan
When a band returns after thirty years, the results can either be a wonderful celebration of nostalgia or a significant disappointment that leaves fans pining for what once was. However, Deadguy returns after three decades sounding as focused and caustic as they did in the early 90's, and
Near Death Travel Services is an insightful deconstruction of today’s world through a musical lens of majestic violence. Retaining every ounce of disgust and fury heard on 1995's
Fixation on a Co-Worker, Tim Singer opens the record by declaring “We are the freaks, and we dare to believe there is a place for us in this world” on “Kill Fee.” This is the most optimistic line of the record, and one must hope that the freaks find their places so that they can turn around a world careening towards self-destruction. The song’s punishing tempo-shift emphasizes the darkness that shrouds
Near Death Travel Services, an almost hilariously un-ironic title concerning what it’s like to fly currently. The record is a collection of 11 head-on car crashes set to music with equally scorching lyrics (my favorite being “” I don’t hate you, I just like it when you’re not around” on “Barn Burner.”) “Cheap Trick” is a shredding work of unrelenting honesty about oneself and the chaos that continuously swarms around us, as Singer declares, “The sycophants have taken over.” Chris Corvino and Keith Huckins work in perfect concert throughout the record, but “The Forever People” is a masterclass in ferocity with Singer bellowing, “We’re selling tickets for the end of time” and the track features a whiplash-inducing conclusion. “War with Strangers” is a painfully astute and biting critique of modern ethos with lyrics capturing the idiocy of the virtue signaling and self-righteousness that permeates a hollow culture in which people “scream bad poetry at the sky”. “Knife Sharpener” continues this messaging, as the band dissects the derivative and hypocritical morality espoused by so many, as Dave Rosenberg and Jim Baglino utterly overwhelm listeners with their combined bombast. The song asks, “Can we just talk? Can we just exchange words?” This query, straightforward and simplistic in nature, still seems to be an impossibility whenever one listens, reads, or watches contemporary global “leaders.” On “The Long Search for Perfect Timing,” “Singer begins to give up, mirroring an exasperation to which it is easy to succumb, as he notes, “The more I see, the less I feel.” This brilliant social disparagement finishes with “Wax Princess,” and includes the observation, “They pick your books and your history/ that doesn’t sound like freedom to me.” As cold, emotionless vocalizations from an AI chatbot fades at the conclusion of the song, it declares that “time is for sale,” and that is a bitter yet ideal way to finish this dystopian masterpiece. Deadguy revolutionized hardcore 30 years ago by making it more complex and challenging; who knew that in 2025, they are exactly the band we need.
Deadguy, then
James Damion
Metal kings and hardcore hierarchy. It might be hard to fathom how a band with so few releases in over 30 years can attain such notoriety. Yet through a cutthroat sound and maniacal delivery, Deadguy is instantly recognizable, as if they were the only band left after a well-documented bloodbath. When describing Deadguy, one might compare their vicious nature to that of
South of Heaven-era Slayer, With a lineup featuring a Death Row of members: Tim Singer, Keith Huckins, Michael DeLarenzo, and Dave Rosenberg. Tim Singer has established himself as the best and most highly regarded singer in extreme music. He also previously fronted the short-lived No Escape and brought us the highly regarded Boiling Point Fanzine. As for
Near Death Travel Services, nothing has changed with Deadguy. The band that originated in New Brunswick, NJ has only grown old and colder, sharpening their vicious delivery and lyrics to scare the fuck out of the true believers and doubters alike. Scalding vocals meet colossal rhythms and legendary leads that tear apart whatever might be left on the listener’s bones. Essential.
Deadguy, today
Harmony Corruption with Oliver
Coming home to this album after spending two weeks "on the continent" ,as us cultured elites say, was extremely funny because, while overseas, the pancreas of one of my travelling companions decided to shit the bed resulting in your hero having to drive him to some backwater French town which boasted the only ER in the region. Navigating 12th century streets and highways in a giant car made in the 21st century and trying to decipher street signs written in a language you don't speak while your passenger vomits blood into a wine bag - "Near Death Travel Services" indeed! (He's fine, by the way. Thanks for asking. Dick).
Near Death Travel Servicess is Deadguy's first full-length in over 30 years. If you've been paying attention over the past 20 years or so, you will have noticed that almost every go-nowhere band from the 90's has reunited to varying degrees of success. Some of these ding dongs even decided to record new albums, almost all of which have been profoundly mediocre! So when Deadguy announced they were also going to make a new album, I was worried as Deadguy is one of my favorite bands. But Deadguy were never a normal band. Despite being one of Victory's early signings, they always claimed metal instead of hardcore. And on a label where the vibe was basketball jerseys and songs about killing drug dealers, Deadguy were the black sheep. Sounding like a cross between Slayer and every band on Amphetamine Reptile, Deadguy were darker, heavier, scarier, funnier, and older than all of their label mates. Which is why I dug them way more than Integrity or Strife.
Oliver, shut the fuck up and tell me if this album is worth my money or not!? Yes. Yes it is. A perfect sequel to the skull-pounding "Fixation on a Coworker." Deadguy is still pissed, still hate their jobs, still hate 90% of their friends, and as the world has only gotten shittier and more miserable since their last full-length, we need their music more than ever! There's sadly no prize for correctly predicting how awful things would get back in the sunny and booming economy of the 90s. Or that putting all of our faith (and money) in the hands of loser technocrats who couldn't get laid and whose fathers either didn't hit or hug them enough would result not in a utopia, but in an unlivable world full of unnecessary and broken web connecting devices, climate annihilation, mass poverty, and porn that still takes forever to load while your media illiterate dad who didn't trust the 'net back in the day is now 100% convinced the AI generated image of a buff Trump fighting a werewolf he saw on Facebook is totally real! But Deadguy knew! Near Death Travel services is like watching the world through the eyes of Private Pyle. The crushing, discordant riffs seem to get slower and slower as the album progresses so it feels like the record is fucking choking you by the end as Tim Singer tries his best to scream his way out of it! You have to be pretty "mentally unwell" to be as angry as you were in your twenties, but considering most bands of twentysomethings these days are trying their best to ignore the world falling apart around them (and who can blame them?), someone has to be pissed for the rest of us - and Deadguy are more than up for the challenge! Hail Satan! Hail Deadguy! Evil never dies!
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