Newly-launched, Detroit-based Corpse Flower Records is extremely pleased to release the vinyl edition of I Was Your City from now-defunct gloom-trodden hardcore assassins, PLAYING ENEMY.
Initially released on Hawthorne Street Records nearly a decade ago, the Corpse Flower edition of I Was Your City was mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin (OLD, Scorn, Khanate, Khlyst etc.) withdesign/layout by Demian Johnston and is limited to 300 hand-numbered copies: 250 on white vinyl and 50 on purple sunburst..
Fittingly describes Sputnik Music of the now-legendary offering, "This album is one soaked in despair. Where Botch was cynical this album is a downward spiral of shattered illusions and crushed dreams. Riffs are discordant and chaotic, up-changing and down changing, switching in and out of acoustic sections without a second's notice. The drumbeats are stretched across the entire set of skins, dynamic yet filled with form and the bass is a very cynical, throbbing contrast to the high and low tuned wailing of the guitars. The handling of all these disharmonious elements of the band's sound is handled with precision and care. Guitars, drums and bass are layered upon each other, each element retreating and entering at precise time intervals. 'The End Of Something' shows the bass not entering until midway through the song when the lowtuned riffs exchange to the higher tuned guitar riffs. Similarly in 'And The Engine' the blastbeats of the drums only enter later, instead opting for a slower tempo rhythm or just tapping the cymbals. This attention to the music shows an awareness of the mathcore's conventional problems; the bass being buried underneath the other instruments and the drums becoming too dominant. It is an awareness that points to an experienced view of the genre, an unsurprising fact considering this band is the fourth incarnation of the Rorschach/Deadguy/Kiss It Goodbye saga."
I Was Your City Track Listing:
Side A
1. Cancer
2. Jade
3. Monaco
4. This Happened
5. My Life As An Echo
6. The End Of Something
2. Jade
3. Monaco
4. This Happened
5. My Life As An Echo
6. The End Of Something
Side B
7. Must Bring Own Weapon.
8. And The Engine
9. Angels In A Trailer
10. A Thousand Victories
11. Capricorn
7. Must Bring Own Weapon.
8. And The Engine
9. Angels In A Trailer
10. A Thousand Victories
11. Capricorn
PLAYING ENEMY was forged following the dissolution of Seattle hard-core merchants Kiss It Goodbye in 1998. Featuring drummer Andrew Gormley (Rorschach, Die 116), singer/guitarist Demian Johnston (Undertow, nineironspitfire) and bassist Thom Rusnak (Rorschach, Ambush), PLAYING ENEMY released their debut, Caesarean, on Escape Artist Records in 2001. Soon after, Rusnak fled the band and was replaced by Shane Mehling, solidifying the trio. What followed were a slew of shows, including the opening slot on Converge's Jane Doe tour and Botch's farewell, before the release of the Ephemera EP. The band toured for the next few years, sharing the stage with bands such as Mastodon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Isis and Coalesce while they composed material for what would end up being their second and final full-length, I Was Your City, released by Hawthorne Records in 2005. Accessory, a 70-minute companion piece, soon followed. After further touring, the band began to demo for a new full-length, but in 2006 decided to part ways. Their last EP, My Life As The Villain, was released posthumously by Hex Records in 2008. Johnston and Mehling continue to play together in Great Falls, and Gormley has formed the band Spacebag.
I Was Your City is available via Corpse Flower Records. Order your copy at THIS LOCATION.
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