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)
Void
Pulse Ultra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the boredom is killing you
You know all the cracks in your wall
They're staring right back at you
In this time you will see
You're not alone in this tonight
I know your void
The boredon is killng you take flight
Disguise yourself in your masks
You're balancing on the thin line
You'd better rush back to shore
In time you will see
There's no running
You're not alone in this tonight
I know your void
The boredom is killing you take flight
Away from yourself
A restless static in your being
Alters everthing you're seeing
When all the outlets seem so worn
You shouldn't feel so torn
You're not alone in this tonight
I know your void
The boredom is killing you take flight
Away from yourself
You're not alone in this tonight
There's more than one
Person inside of you take flight
Away from yourself
The lyrics of "Void" by Pulse Ultra address a feeling of restlessness and boredom that the singer is experiencing. The first verse describes how the singer's self-discovery has led to a sense of sadness, and how they are hyper-aware of their surroundings, to the point where they can see every crack in the wall staring back at them. The sense of loneliness and isolation is palpable when they repeat, "You're not alone in this tonight." The chorus then emphasizes that they know the feeling intimately and urges the listener to take flight from it.
In the second verse, the singer switches to addressing the listener directly, urging them to take off their metaphorical masks and face themselves. The line "You'd better rush back to shore" implies that the listener may feel like they are drifting out to sea or losing control of their sense of self. But the singer reassures them again that they are not alone in their struggle. The final verse contains some of the most interesting wordplay in the song, as they describe a "restless static" that "alters everything" the listener sees. This could be interpreted as a kind of cognitive distortion or obsessive thinking that colors the listener's perception of reality.
Line by Line Meaning
You're sad cause you found yourself
Discovering your true self has left you feeling unhappy
And the boredom is killing you
The monotonous routine of everyday life is draining your energy
You know all the cracks in your wall
You're fully aware of your own faults and flaws
They're staring right back at you
Your insecurities and problems seem to always be in your face
In this time you will see
Right now you'll come to understand
You're not alone in this tonight
You have company in your struggle to find meaning
I know your void
I understand the emptiness you feel
The boredom is killing you take flight
The dullness of your everyday life is suffocating, so break away
Away from yourself
Step away from your current state of mind
Disguise yourself in your masks
You hide your true self behind personas
You're balancing on the thin line
You're on the edge between stability and chaos
You'd better rush back to shore
You need to find your way back to a safe place
There's no running
You can't avoid the problems you're facing
A restless static in your being
Anxiety and unease fill your existence
Alters everything you're seeing
It affects your perception of everything around you
When all the outlets seem so worn
You've exhausted all options to feel better
You shouldn't feel so torn
Don't let yourself fall apart
There's more than one
You have multiple sides and emotions that make you who you are
Person inside of you take flight
Embrace all parts of yourself and break free from your current rut
Away from yourself
Step away from your current state of mind
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JAMIE HINCE, ALISON MOSSHART
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
norunnerup
You're sad cause you found yourself
And the boredom is killing you
You know all the cracks in your wall
They're staring right back at you
In this time you will see
You're not alone in this tonight
I know your void
The boredon is killng you take flight
Away from yourself
Disguise yourself in your masks
You're balancing on the thin line
You'd better rush back to shore
In time you will see
There's no running
You're not alone in this tonight
I know your void
The boredom is killing you take flight
Away from yourself
A restless static in your being
Alters everthing you're seeing
When all the outlets seem so worn
You shouldn't feel so torn
You're not alone in this tonight
I know your void
The boredom is killing you take flight
Away from yourself
You're not alone in this tonight
There's more than one
Person inside of you take flight
Away from yourself
Master Bob
Probably one of the best bands that came and went too soon...
Newguts
@Alfredo Padrón Nañez Well said. I can agree with that.
Alfredo Padrón Nañez
@Newguts I wouldn't say underrated but not well known instead, cause there is not a lot of people who know them but the ones that do, usually think is an awesome band and album.
Sadly a lot of bands don't blow up because of poor publicity and other big bands overshadowing them. Both of this cases apply for pulse ultra.
Newguts
Yes and I don't get why they are so underrated
Abner de Morais
Grande banda de Nu Metal, é uma pena que não teve o sucesso esperado.
Kaio Fontenele
verdade
Joe Sanchez
probably my favorite song of this band
Mike Ze
Im endlessly glad a friend showed this to me. It became one of my favorit songs of all time
Andrea Agricola
What appened to this band!? :(
It's a good album! it's a strange thing that Pulse Ultra vanish like a ghost...
Baz
Really late to this, but; the band split up after they were dropped from their label. They were dropped because 'Headspace' wasn't really enough to make Pulse Ultra a popular, high record selling, band.