History

Soulless oozed from the battered corpse of Cleveland band Bloodsick in late 1997. Bloodsick, a band formed in the spirit of vintage 1980's and 1990's thrash metal released one 7", a split with Nunslaughter, in 1996. The band featured Chris Dora, formerly of Decrepit on drums and Jim Lippucci, formerly of Decimation on vocals. After the release of the 7" in 1997, guitarist Brian Sekula left the band and was replaced by Jerry Kessler, formerly of Apt. 213. Before the band could work on any other material bass player Chris Pello and founding guitarist Todd Thozeski left the band and were eventually replaced by Tony Daprano on bass, (formerly of Apt 213 and a member of Schnauzer) and Wayne Richards on guitar.

With the addition of these members came an evolution of the bands sound and new direction: a combination of the hooks and angry vocals of some of thrash metal's early bands like Kreator, Sodom, Carnivore, Slayer, and Celtic Frost with the aggression and darkness of some of today's heaviest bands, like In Flames, The Haunted, Arch Enemy & Unleashed. The resulting music combined the best of these sounds while creating the bands own distinct style of dark death/thrash metal. With this new direction came a new name and Soulless was born.

The band immediately began writing new material and in mid 1998 went into the studio to record a demo. The band received a strong response in their native Cleveland and eventually released the demo 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 1999 in their January - February issue.

Jerry Kessler left Soulless in the fall of 2000 and was replaced by Jim Corrick (Dahmer, OH) 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 titled 'Bleeding Darkness' in summer of 2001. Featuring three examples of the bands newest most brutal material, the promo received excellent reviews 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 line-up 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 Lament' 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.

2005 finds the band releasing its' first vinyl offerings: the live 'Scorn on the 4th of July' split 7 inch EP w/ the mighty Nunslaughter and the 4 song 'Betray the Light' 7 inch. Another full length is written and will soon be cast in molten metal, sharpened, honed and thrust into the bleeding hearts of the unwary metal legions that infest this hell forsaken ball of dismal dirt.