SOULKEEP formed in the fall of 2001 out of the ashes of bands such as Corpsicle, Affliction and Anshar, to produce a much needed return to the “classic” sounds of metal that had been slowly pushed aside by the emergence of the tired Nu Metal and Rap Metal scene. Mixing the styles of the “old school” such as Sabbath, old Megadeth, Testament, Death Angel and Mercyful Fate with the newer sounds of the Gothenberg melodic metal style from bands like In Flames, Shadows Fall and Arch Enemy became a trademark in the developement of the band and a direction that they would look to improve upon. Starting out as a five piece band consisting of Dean Gehrmann on vocals, Rob Parkinson on lead guitar, Toby Hull on drums, Bill Werner on rhythm guitar and Matt Nagel on bass proved to be a perfect mix of styles and influences to head out onto the gig circuit and to eventually release their first 5 song CD titled “Chant of the Vipers” in 2003. This release brought the band good response and play time from websites such as Garageband.com as well as local and regional radio shows like “The Mosh Pit” on WORT in Madison, WI, “Metal Thunder” on WWSP in Stevens Point, WI and “The Foundry” on WLFC in Findlay, OH. One of the songs from the CD (”Rage”) also made it onto a compilation CD called “The Harder, The Better - Vol.5” put out by Turkey Vulture Records later in the year. Soon after the release of the CD, the unfortunate events of losing rehearsal space and the band’s rhythm guitarist within a six month stretch sent them into a year and a half long reconfiguration of the band. New rehearsal space was eventually found and replacement guitarists came and went and in the process SOULKEEP continued to write new songs and play shows as a four piece. The songs and the shows were great but the second guitarist was sorely missed on stage. The band needed a fuller sound and a spark to re-ignite the fire. Finally, Late in 2004 a second guitarist was found by the name of Roland Schoeneborn. A textbook soloist with exactly the same musical tastes and influences that the rest of us enjoyed. Shortly after, a second singer was enlisted to bring a Power Metal flavor into the band to mix with the Dave Mustaine style rasp of Deans vocals. this proved to be the fan to the flame the band needed to find its true direction. The final piece to the puzzle came in early 2005 when a decision was made to upgrade the bassist position with the addition of Eric Anderson. Erik had just finished a solid run with the Madison metal band The Illuminati and was a person a few of the band members had known a long time ago in the early 90’s thrash band Prodigol Son. At long last the line-up is kinda set and the fire is at a roaring blaze once again and we’re ready for a fruitfull summer gig season as well as another trip to the studio to record some of the 20 originals written during the down times. The excitement is brewing to get the new songs out to showcase our revised sound and line-up and to show the improvement upon the “Chant of the Vipers” CD. The future looks good for SOULKEEP. *update - 4/28/06* Currently on hiatus after losing Bassist, 2nd guitarist and 2nd vocalist. Still alive though and will be posting new songs on garageband soon