PULSE ULTRA

"Headspace"

Velvet Hammer/Atlantic

Life, "amped up and taken to the next level." That's how Pulse Ultra'a guitarist, Dominic Cifarelli, describes the musical heart of this young, Montreal-bred, progressive metal band. "Amped up" as they may be, I see Pulse Ultra as introspective metal with well-developed roots. With tunes like "Acceptance (Phase I)," Finding My Place (Phase II)," and "Look Closer," this band has put some thought into creating material on their debut album, "Headspace," that goes beyond the now commonplace thundering metal sounds that define the mainstream. Instead of just letting the guitar and bass loose in 10th gear onto the malleable youth, Pulse Ultra has developed an inner-voice behind the sound. Listen closely to the lyrics, you'll hear some deep feeling and bounding emotions. Rounding out the band are Zo Vizza (vocals), Max Zinno (drums), and Jeff Feldman (bass).

"Headspace" is filled with some truly intricate manipulations. Listening closely, you can clearly hear that the band has done its homework. Though the band's youth puts their musical roots in the progressive metal realm of '80's groups like Dream Theater and Queensryche, one can hear in the bands energized back beat that it has spirit harkening back to early metal royalty like Black Sabbath. As well, there are some smart interactions between the raucous modern metal reverie here that recalls Page-driven Zeppelin metal rifts. The instrumental track "Interlude" will provide you with an example of the depth of this group. A simple jazzy instrumental, it asks you to take a break and think about everything that has happened thus far. A subtle, yet strong example of the intensity of thought put into this production.

My hazy memories of sitting in my dormitory room after a long, arduous day of classes lingers on. Getting lost in the intensity of a King Crimson or Yes orchestration, or trying to move into another "headspace" with some raucous Zeppelin or Doors music was often the one joy of the day. In their debut release, you can tell Pulse Ultra has that dual power of taking the listener to other planes of emotional and intellectual being. In the early days, metal was linked to some of the great talents of our time. Derived from the enriching blues-rock and psychedelic sounds, it was mind expanding, as well as numbing. Getting today's youth to listen to Pulse Ultra's sound should be easy. Getting them to think deeper, expanding their minds beyond the thundering blasts - the way metal's forefather made it to be - is within the realm of Pulse Ultra's ability, and would be their greatest success.

- Dave Geller

**** 1/2