Utter Trash--Soulless

If it’s Metal, it’s Good

An interview with Jim Lippucci and Wayne Richards of Soulless

By Bob Ignizio

Left to right: Jim Corrick, Dave Johnson, and Jim Lippuci

“If it’s metal, it’s good. If there’s a fag rapping on it, it’s not metal. It’s gay.” That’s how Soulless guitarist Wayne Richards sees it, anyway. Although my bleeding heart liberal sensibilities would probably lead me to phrase it differently, I can’t argue with the sentiment. In some ways, Cleveland, Ohio’s Soulless (Jim Lippucci-vocals, Wayne Richards-Guitar, Chris Dora-Drums, Jim Corrick-guitar, Dave Johnson-Bass) are a refreshing throwback to the music I grew up on. Five guys in street clothes playing kick ass metal with no bullshit image.

According to Wayne, “Soulless is a thrash band that combines elements of early 80s Bay Area and German thrash with early 90s Swedish death metal. Primary legends responsible for the Soulless sound are Slayer, Kreator, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Sodom, Exodus, Celtic Frost, Forbidden, Voi Vod, Entombed, Dismember, and At the Gates.” The result is a band that combines the musicianship and songwriting of classic metal with the heaviness and brutality of more contemporary artists, putting Soulless in the fine company of bands like In Flames, Witchery, and Arch Enemy.

Below: Wayne Richards and Chris Dora

Formed from the ashes of the band Blood Sick, which included vocalist Jim Lippuci and drummer Chris Dora, Soulless originally came together in 1996. “Once we were the only two original members remaining in the band we decided to move in a slightly different direction and get a new name,” Jim said. Jim and Chris were joined by Wayne Richards and Jerry Kessler on guitars and Tony Daprano on bass, with this line-up making its live debut in 1997 and releasing their first CD, ‘The Darkening of Days’, in 1999. Since then, both Jerry and Tony have moved on and were replaced by Dave Johnson (bass) and Jim Corrick (guitar).

Since forming, the band has become a regular fixture on the Cleveland metal scene, opening for bands like Incantation, Nile, Morbid Angel, and Dismember as well as playing on numerous local bills. They’ve also played shows in Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Wayne fondly remembers the Indianapolis show, a benefit for guitarist James Murphy. “I ate 23 pieces of pizza after we played,” he claims. “Before the show, a bar across the street had free hot dogs. I had 4 of those. The local Indiana chicks were all over me. The gas expelled from my ass in the van was unreal on the way home.” He also shared another delightful story of life on the road, this one involving the band’s drummer. “One time on the way home from playing a show, Dora shit his pants in Parsippany, New Jersey. He wiped his ass with a sock and kept the undies (KISS boxers…obviously irreplaceable)!”

This past spring the band recorded their second album, ‘Agony’s Lament’, which will be released on November 20^th through the Japanese label World Chaos Productions. “World Chaos generally licenses their releases in different territories throughout the world. It usually takes a couple of months after the Japanese release for these deals to get rolling. We hope to have some major distribution in the US in three to six months,” Jim said. “We already have good distribution set to pounce on Japan and Europe, but the distribution in the States will depend on how well “Agony’s Lament” does overseas,” Wayne added. In the meantime, the CD should be available at the band’s live shows.

I asked the guys to tell me a little about their songwriting. Whether the lyrics have any sort of message, or if they just try to find something that fits the mood of the music, and do they write as a band, or does everyone write individually. Jim answered simply, “yes.” Wayne, on the other hand, told me, “From what I gather, all of Jim’s lyrics are centered around his hot ex-girlfriend and all of their struggles to form a normal, long-lasting relationship built around a mutual respect for one another striving to gain peace, love and trust. Usually Corrick or I have some riffs which are developed into songs for Soulless, and much, much later Lippucci finally writes lyrics.” What lady could possibly resist such tender love ballads as “Abandoned to Bleed” or “Blissfully Damned”?

Regarding the recording process, Jim said, “We recorded at Mars studio outside of Cleveland with Bill Korecky. We go into the studio very well prepared. We pretty much produced the album, but Bill always is there to provide us with a fresh opinion from outside of the group, which is very helpful.” Wayne adds, “I am sure we will never, ever record anywhere but MARS. We have a phenomenal relationship with Bill Korecky (who is a damn genius when it comes to engineering a metal record), which will never be severed because Soulless has gained that level of peace, love and trust with Bill. Bill does have his opinions, which frequently become the focus of turmoil for the band…but there are those rare occasions of joy when we get to completely shut him down.”

Being the completely tactless bastard that I am, I also asked Jim about his prosthetic leg, and whether or not he was the “Six Million Dollar Man” of metal. Taking my morbid prying in stride, Jim said, “I lost my leg to a very rare bone disease at the age of nine. Fortunately I have had access to some of the most high tech prosthetics that our country has to offer. These are the limbs that you see people with actual drive and determination using to run marathons and climb mountains. I generally use mine to walk into and out of bars and frighten small children. The leg was actually a lot less then $6 million…I guess I am the $17,000 man of metal.” In a touching gesture of protectiveness, Wayne told me, “Leave him alone.”

While Soulless love playing in their home town (“Cleveland is a great city for Metal,” says Wayne) they clearly have their sights set on taking things to the next level. “Soulless originally set out to get signed, a goal which we finally achieved. Our next goal is to eventually tour Europe (most importantly) and the United States. In a sense we’re just getting started, so hopefully we’ll be around for quite a while,” Wayne said. Finally, I asked Jim if he would be happy if the band merely attained cult status. “I don’t know…it doesn’t’ fit in with my lifestyle of debauchery and excess. I may actually start my own cult some day. I’ve always longed to be worshipped”