Updated: 02/21/03

Soulless is a death metal band from Ohio whose album Agony’s Lament has just been released through the World Chaos label of Japan. Brutal as fuck and ready to tear your head off, Soulless is as relentless as they come. Read on and enter the Soulless domain!

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Soulless and how long the band has been together.

Jim Lippucci, Vocals. We’ve been doin’ this since around ’96 or so I believe…

Wayne Richards, Guitar. Autumn of 1996…

Where is the band from and what is the music scene like there?

JL: We reside in wonderful Cleveland Ohio. The scene is pretty decent here, There are a lot of bands.

WR: Cleveland has an intense metal scene where you can get your ass kicked at a show if you don’t “brush your teeth” or “frighten children” or “pop your whiteheads with a compass you used in high school” or…

If you had to describe your music to a really old person, what would you say?

JL: Interestingly enough, I frequently find myself with that dilemma. I usually just say it’s plain old devil music, and that they should mind their own fucking business.

WR: (yelling) “IT”S TOTAL THRASH METAL, LISTEN TO THE FAST DRUMS AND EXCELLENT RIFFING AND PISSED SINGING! IF ITS TOO LOUD YOU”RE TOO OLD! BANG YOUR HEAD YOU BASTARD!”

That cover art is brutal. Who drew it and how much influence did you have on the artwork?

JL: The artist’s name is Matt Cavotta. He does art for D&D books and for Magic the Gathering cards and shit like that. We hooked up with him after seeing the art he did for our friends in Somnus. The person originally secured to provide our artwork left us hanging at the last minute. We hooked up with Matt and he got the cover done for us in six days. We gave him a very vague idea of what we wanted, but gave him the freedom to come up with whatever he wanted. We were a little nervous, because time was running out and we had no idea what he would come up with. We were very happy with the results.

WR: Matt had an idea for the album cover, showed us a rough painting…we liked what he was doing, and he finished it within a week. It is a brilliant and gorgeous piece and we are very pleased with the outcome.

Describe a live Soulless show for those of us who have yet to see you play.

JL: Thrashing headbanging and drinking. We like to rage.

WR: Heads bang, Fists Pound, ugly chicks and uglier dudes raging…But it is an intense thrashing good time!

Any chance of seeing Soulless here on the West Coast? Have you ever played in LA before?

JL: We plan to tour extensively in the near future. Tell the ladies to get ready.

WR: We certainly play anywhere; anytime…if the price is right. We’ll probably be out there some time this year.

How did you wind up on a label from Japan and what made you decide to go with Worldchaos?

JL: No one in the US wanted us. We finally gave up and started recording the album ourselves when WorldChaos expressed their interest. They fucking rule.

WR: They really were the only label that truly wanted to get behind Soulless and push us to that next level. They have promoted the album like crazy and we’re overjoyed to be on this label.

You’ve been on several tribute albums. What was your favorite out of them all and is there a non-metal artist you’d like to cover death metal style?

JL: I really like the Ozzy song we did. We like to fuck around with playing different covers. I’d like to do a Blue Oyster Cult song, (although that’s sorta metal…)

WR: I still like the first one we did (Hellbent for Leather), but the Destruction and Twisted Sister covers are good too. Maybe Thin Lizzy or AC/DC…

If Britney Spears asked you to quit Soulless and tour the world with her band for a year, what would you do?

JL: I would immediately quit this band and dedicate my life to the pursuit of pounding Britney. I would pound her in the name of metal.

WR: Is there guitar in her music? Is there money in it for me? Do I get to pound her before, after and during each show? Many factors need to be weighed in before I can properly answer this extraordinarily realistic question.

What was it like opening for Morbid Angel? Did you get to meet them?

JL: It was pretty cool. We hung out a little bit…Wayne usually scares people away though.

WR: I’ll kill you…that’s great. It was really fun, I kind of felt bad for Morbid Angel because the majority of the crowd left after we played, so they only got to play in front of like, 20 or 30 people. We never did meet them.

Where do you get your ideas for the lyrics on Agony’s Lament?

JL: My tortured existence and my inability to tour with Britney Spears.

WR: Oh… I don’t really write lyrics.

Do you have any messages for metal fans who might be interesting in checking out your music?

JL: Do it. Do it. Now

WR: IT’S GO TIME! Go on www.soullessdomain.com and buy the record, the shirts, the stickers, the buttons, anything that you can do to put money in our pockets and an excellent slab of thrash metal in your spectacular metal collection! We thank you.

If the world were suddenly to come to an end, what song would you want to hear just right before the final explosion and why?

JL: The Fleet of Fury, of course…

WR: Who Let the Dogs Out because that song is really good and you don’t hear it that much anymore.