Metal Storm logo
Soulless - Biography


Logo


1997-

Biography

Soulless oozed from the battered corpse of Cleveland band "Bloodsick" in late 1997. Bloodsick, a band formed in the spirit of vintage 80's and 90's thrash metal released one 7", a split with Nunslaughter, in 1996. After major upheavals in the lineup new direction was found and Soulless was born. Inspired by the spirit of true thrash and with the ferocity of death metal the band immediately began writing new material and in mid-'98 went into the studio to record a demo.

The demo received a strong response in their native Cleveland and was eventually released as a CD entitled the "The Darkening of Days" in August of 1999. The band also appeared on the Dwell Records Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne tribute CD's at about that same time .Soulless then concentrated on playing shows, opening for such bands as Malevolent Creation, Incantation, Nile, and Morbid Angel in Cleveland, as well as local shows with bands like Descend, Nunslaughter and From The Depths. With about 1000 copies in circulation "The Darkening of Days" continued to get strong reviews both in print and from Internet fanzines. Canadian 'zine "Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles" called it the best demo of '99 in their January - February issue.

In the fall of 2000 guitarist Jerry Kessler left Soulless and was replaced by Jim Corrick on lead & rhythm guitar. Soon after the band entered the infamous Mars Recording Compound to record songs for the Dwell Records' Destruction, W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister and Metallica II tributes, and to complete a new three song promo. The new material was just as angry, heavy and brutal as Soulless' earlier material, while reflecting the growth the band had experienced since the release of the first disk.The band finished and began distributing the three song promo in summer of 2001. The promo was well received but failed to land the band any solid recording deal.

In March of 2002 bassist Tony Daprano was replaced by Cleveland metal journeyman Dave Johnson (Descension, Ascension). With the lineup now solidified, the band decided to begin recording a new album even though they had yet to secure a deal. In April of 2002 they returned to Mars and began work on the new full length. Later that month upstart Japanese metal label World Chaos Production decided to make Soulless the first American band on their roster. The ten song opus, entitled "Agony's Lament", was released November of 2002 on WorldChaos. The disc was later released by Crash Music in the US in May of 2003.
Agony's was well received, and the band began spreading the mayhem regionally, condemning souls from Wisconsin to New York, playing shows with the likes of Incantation, October 31 and Macabre and leaving a trail of dazed and stunned metal casualties.

In 2004 the band released it's first vinyl offerings: The live "Scorn on the 4th of July" split 7" w/ the mighty Nunslaughter and the 4 song "Betray the Light" 7" ep. The band again terrorized the Eastern US, performing with the likes of Deceased, Arch Enemy, Exodus, and many others while writing songs and rehearsing material for their next full length.

In 2006 the band entered Spider Studios in Ohio to begin work on their third full length with Producer Ben Schigel. Progress was slow, with Schigel fitting the cash strapped thrashers into his hectic schedule where he could over the next several months. The group's tenacity paid off, as the combination of skull crushing song writing and ear shattering production delivered a 13 song thrash metal masterpiece of near epic proportions. "Forever Defiant" was released by WorldChaos Production in Japan in June of 2007 and reaffirms Soulless' status as one of America's top underground metal acts.

(Source: http://www.soullessdomain.com)