The sound of Velvet Hammer/Atlantic recording group Pulse Ultra's debut album is that of rocks amped up and taken to the next level. "HEADSPACE" is a stirring mix of cerebral and aggressive hard rock, melding complex musical constructions with dramatic melodies and harrowing, introspective lyrics.
Tracks like "Build Your Cages" and "Glass Door" reveals the Montreal-based quartet's multi-faceted sonic approach, with an array of unstoppable hooks, ethereal atmospherics, and ambitious arrangements.
Best friends since childhood, Cifarelli and bassist Jeff Feldman have spent most of their lives playing music together. Their high school band gigged at local parties and the occasional Battle of the Bands, but the band's lineup was in frequent flux, leading to a temporary parting-of-the-ways in 1997. The addition of drummer Maxx Zinno brought a new sense of direction and increased focus.
"It was a very weird time," Dominic says, "but then we got with Maxx, and the first day we jammed, we wrote three songs! It was really immediate."
While Montreal is widely regarded for the diversity of its dance and electronic-based music, it is not exactly known as a hotbed of dark and mysterious rock 'n' roll. Cifarelli, Feldman, and Zinno envisioned a band that could not be imprisoned by confinement of the city's trip-hoppin' club scene.
"Raves are huge," Cifarelli says. "There's not much room for a rock band, and the ones that are here don't usually stick together."
The band rehearsed and wrote with a fervor, going so far as to cut a few demos, but something was still missing. The missing piece of the puzzle fell into place at a 1999 Halloween party attended by the band members as well as a local singer by the name of Zo Vizza.
"Some kid put our CD on," Cifarelli recalls, "and Zo starts singing along. I'm listening to this kid's voice and I totally freaked out. The next day I called him and said, 'Let's write some songs.'" "I was about to join this French band," Vizza says, "which was like my last resort. Then Dominic called and it all started up from there."
Cifarelli and Vizza clicked immediately, penning a number of gripping, acoustic-driven songs, blending the power of Dominic's prog metal influences with Zo's evocative Doors-inspired melodies.
"We just kind of shed all the crap," the guitarist says. "We thought, 'Let's make the heavy stuff heavier and the light stuff lighter.' We want to push all the boundaries, without forgetting that it's all about the song." In the summer of 2000, the guitarist made a connection that led to the band finally getting out of the garage and into the studio. A big fan of Velvet Hammer/Atlantic recording group Taproot, Cifarelli decided to visit the band's tour bus when the Michigan-based band came to Montreal for a show.
"Taproot is very special to us," Dominic says. "So when they came to Montreal, I went over to where they were playing with a six-pack of beer and I just fuckin' knocked on the bus. (Guitarist) Mike (DeWolf) came out and I said, 'I bought you some beer, man. Congratulations on your fuckin' success and shit,' and he said 'Come on in.' I just chilled out with him and the rest of the band for a couple hours and they were fuckin' totally cool." Cifarelli passed over a CD of the latest Headspace demos, and a blown-away DeWolf handed back his manager's phone number.
"I thought, 'I'm not going to call. I don't want to ruin how special the day was,'" Dominic says. "The next day, which was my birthday, the manager e-mailed me! So I called him, we started talking, and the rest is history." Taking on the new moniker of Pulse Ultra, the band inked a deal with Velvet Hammer Management and soon found them signed to Atlantic Records. In July of 2001, Pulse Ultra left the chilly climes of Canada for sunny Los Angeles in order to work with producer Neal Avron (Everclear, Seven Mary Three).
"Neal had never done anything really heavy before," Cifarelli says, "but he was totally excited about us. When we finally met him, we loved his vibe. He was totally amazing – an amazing ear, an amazing engineer, an amazing producer, just a musical genius all around."
The sessions proved to be the most wrenching emotional experience of the band members' lives. As if recording their major label debut wasn't stressful enough, Zinno was diagnosed with an extreme hernia early into the process. Worse, Vizza's father passed away one month into the recording, sending Zo into a spiral of anxiety attacks. Pulse Ultra ultimately spent six long months in Los Angeles, but unlike many bands in a similar situation, they didn't take advantage of the many opportunities the city offers to musicians.
"We never really went out," Cifarelli says. "We were like, 'Let's work hard now, and then we'll fuckin' go crazy.' So we hid out in our rehearsal spot six days a week, practicing, and having anxiety attacks."
The resulting album – dubbed "HEADSPACE" – is fraught with the raw emotions and difficult circumstances that fuelled the recording sessions. Psychologically visceral songs like "Build Your Cages" and "Finding My Place" express Zo's refusal to sacrifice his dreams, even as the pressures built up within and without.
"I'm not a great believer in heaven and hell," he explains. "I believe you should make your heaven on earth. And a lot of people aren't doing that. They're living their lives through other people's expectations, so it's a struggle to do what you want to do. Like the fact that like I was good in school, people always kept on telling me not to sacrifice something good for music. Well, I just think you should just do what you love, period."
With their extraordinary debut about to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world, the band are excited to take their explosive live set to the fans, starting in the summer of 2002 with a prestigious slot on the annual Ozzfest. "From the lowest lows you get the highest highs," muses Vizza.
For Pulse Ultra, things are about to get even higher...
==Band Members==
* Zo Vizza (Vocals)
* Dominic Cifarelli (Guitar)
* Jeff Feldman (Bass)
* Maxx Zinno (Drums)
Never The Culprit
Pulse Ultra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We are always the victims
Blind yourself with indignation
Feed the mass a vengeful elation
Enjoy the last era you ignorant hate machine
Enjoy the last era you ignorant pride machine
Incite the mass to hate our brothers
We are never the culprits in this world
We are always the victims
Who will fold?
You act as if our hands were spotless
Facts are picked to suit our own causes
Enjoy the last era you pathetic propaganda whore
When will you realize there's nothing worth dying for?
And now you've wasted your existence to feed the mass a justified murder
We are never the culprits in this world
We are always the victims
Who will fold?
We are never the culprits in this world
We are always the victims
Who will fold?
You feel hate to give you purpose
Lost yourself in a larger cause step outside your righteous
Pose your beliefs are not the laws
I hope I'm there when there's nothing left to hate
We are never the culprits in this world
We are always the victims
Who will fold?
The lyrics to Pulse Ultra's song "Never The Culprit" touch upon the themes of victimhood and culpability in a world that is often plagued by hate, war, and propaganda. The opening lines "We are never the culprits, We are always the victims" seem to suggest a sense of helplessness and powerlessness, as if the singer and their community are constantly being blamed and targeted unjustly. This feeling is then contrasted with the anger and outrage directed towards those who incite hatred and violence in the name of a larger cause or belief system.
The following lines "Blind yourself with indignation, Feed the mass a vengeful elation, Enjoy the last era you ignorant hate machine, Enjoy the last era you ignorant pride machine" underscore the destructive nature of propaganda and how it can be used to manipulate and brainwash people. The repetition of the phrase "Enjoy the last era" is particularly chilling, as it implies that the world is on the brink of destruction and that those who are responsible for sowing hatred and division are doing so with a sense of glee and satisfaction.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become more introspective and personal. The lines "You act as if our hands were spotless, Facts are picked to suit our own causes" suggest that the singer is himself implicated in the cycle of blame and victimhood, even if he doesn't want to be. This is then followed by the powerful statement "When will you realize there's nothing worth dying for?" which questions the value of the beliefs and ideologies that people are willing to kill and die for.
The final lines of the song "You feel hate to give you purpose, Lost yourself in a larger cause step outside your righteous, Pose your beliefs are not the laws, I hope I'm there when there's nothing left to hate" seem to suggest a sense of disillusionment and despair. The singer seems to have lost faith in the idea of larger causes or ideologies, recognizing that they often lead to destruction and violence. Instead, he hopes for a world where hate has no place and people can find purpose and meaning through other means.
Line by Line Meaning
We are never the culprits
We are never the ones at fault or responsible for the issues occurring in this world.
We are always the victims
We are always the ones who suffer from the actions, decisions, and events happening in this world.
Blind yourself with indignation
Refuse to see the truth and become indignant towards those who try to enlighten you.
Feed the mass a vengeful elation
Delude the masses by giving them a sense of satisfaction or happiness through revenge.
Enjoy the last era you ignorant hate machine
Enjoy the final days of ignorance and hatred before it all comes crashing down.
Enjoy the last era you ignorant pride machine
Enjoy the final days of arrogance and pride before it all crumbles away.
Incite the mass to hate our brothers
Encourage the crowd to hate their own brethren and divide them further.
Feed the mass a justified murder
Justify a heinous crime or murder to the public so that they can support it.
You act as if our hands were spotless
You pretend that we are not guilty of any wrongdoing or immoral actions.
Facts are picked to suit our own causes
We only choose and use the facts that support our own agenda and interests.
Enjoy the last era you pathetic propaganda whore
Enjoy the final days of selling your lies and manipulations to the public for your own gain.
When will you realize there's nothing worth dying for?
When will you understand that there is no cause or belief worth sacrificing your life for?
And now you've wasted your existence to feed the mass a justified murder
You have given up your life to promote and support a murder that was justified by twisted reasoning.
You feel hate to give you purpose
You use hatred and animosity as a means of giving yourself some kind of purpose in life.
Lost yourself in a larger cause step outside your righteous
You have lost yourself in a bigger movement or ideology that goes against what is truly right and just.
Pose your beliefs are not the laws
Don't be arrogant enough to think that your beliefs are the only ones that matter and that they should be made into laws.
I hope I'm there when there's nothing left to hate
I hope to be present when there is no longer anything left to hate in this world.
Who will fold?
Who will break or give in to the pressure and injustice in this world?
We are never the culprits in this world
We are never the ones to blame for the problems and complications in this world.
We are always the victims
We are always the ones who suffer the consequences of the issues and troubles plaguing this world.
Who will fold?
Who will give up and succumb to the difficulties and evils of this world?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind