Aftering listening to this reissue of DEADGUY’s scorching EP, “Work Ethic,” I wonder if this band has any idea over what kind of craze they helped start. For a lot of people who’ve only gotten into hardcore and metalcore in the past couple of years, DEADGUY is probably a silent entity with a name is only recognizable looking through distribution catalogs. I can’t ever remember the last time I saw someone cite this band in a review or in a conversation, including myself. And that my friends, is pretty sad. I feel confident in saying that a band like DROWNINGMAN probably could not have existed had it not been for the sound combination that this band laid down a few years prior. DEADGUY’s monster full-length release, “Fixation On A Co-Worker,” was and still is one the most creative things Victory has ever had the privilege to put out. “Work Ethic” came out in 1994, and although that’s only nine years ago, the fusion of hardcore and metal since then has brought us into an entirely new universe. This EP is roughly were that movement began. There’s only six songs on here, containing roughly 16 minutes of music, but the spastic reflections in the bombastic recording creates surges in electricity akin to a young boy running around a power plant. Steve Evetts recorded this thing, and it’s just a hint of the great work he was going to do in future years. This man can pick up a guitar sound and captivate it’s prowess like practically no other. The opening song, “Running With Scissors,” just chisels away at the brain, especially when the vocals crash in, “I want to make your colors bleed for this / die for this / kill for this / for a dream, staple it to your HEART / and wear it on your sleeve.” Blackout deserves some big credit for putting this out again – and maybe, just maybe, people will want to check out something that has made a big difference for the present.

Blackout Records

www.blackoutrecords.com