Biography
The metallic, complex, screaming, and inventive Seattle band Playing Enemy traces its roots to Kiss It Goodbye. That earlier outfit took shape after Deadguy’s singer and guitarist persuaded ex-Rorschach drummer Andrew Gormley and former Rorschach bassist Thom Rusnak to move to the Northwest. The group issued a phenomenal album on Revelation before its founding guitarist departed. Demian “Headboy” Johnston, previously of Nine Iron Spitfire and Undertow, joined on guitar, cut the band’s final single, and then watched the lineup dissolve. Gormley and Johnston revived their partnership in 1999 under the name Playing Enemy, with Johnston assuming vocal duties as well. The Blood Brothers’ Morgan Henderson covered bass while the new project began recording demos and playing shows. Demo tracks circulated online, after which Playing Enemy headed out on a West Coast tour alongside New York’s Anodyne. That band connected Playing Enemy with Escape Artist Records, which promptly committed to issuing the debut album. Rusnak returned in fall 2000 to handle bass, and the group tracked Cesarean with producer Matt Bayles (Pearl Jam, Isis, Botch) before year’s end. Rusnak exited in 2001; Indiana transplant Shane Mehling stepped in, and the finished album appeared that spring.
Albums
