Pulse Ultra was a four-piece rock band from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. They were active from 1997 to 2004, releasing a major label debut album through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

in 2002.

History

Early years (1997–2000)

Pulse Ultra was initially formed as ''Head Space'' in 1997 by guitarist Dominic Cifarelli and bassist

Jeff Feldman Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson (given name), Jefferson or Jeffrey (given name), Jeffrey, which comes from a Middle Ages, medieval variant of Geoffrey (given name), Geoffrey. Music ...

. Drummer Maxx Zinno was added that same year. During the time, as ''Head Space'', they had the vocalist Claudio Dongarra. Two years after Dongarra left the band, vocalist

Zo Vizza Zo or ZO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Kamen Rider ZO'', a 1993 Japanese tokusatsu movie * ''Zo'' (album), an album by jazz pianist Matthew Shipp Ethnography * Zo people, a group of indigenous tribe in Burma and northeast India ** ...

, was added to the band and they made the name change to Pulse Ultra. Regarding the name, Cifarelli said "Everything right now is so fast-paced. Everything is ultra this, ultra that — ultra soft tissue to wipe your ass, and ultra light cigarettes to give you ultra cancer. Then pulse stands for being human, for life. So Pulse Ultra — it's like life amped up and taken to the next level."''CMJ New Music Report'', 24 Jun 2002 Pulse Ultra's break came in 2000 when the band met

Taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

, with Cifarelli later passing on one of their demos to the band. Taproot guitarist

Mike DeWolf Taproot is an American alternative metal band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, formed in 1997. They are best known for their hit single " Poem", which peaked at #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart in 2002, as well as a number of other singles from 2000 ...

, through their management team Velvet Hammer, later got the band signed with

Major label debut and breakup (2001–2004)

After a year of songwriting, the band issued their debut album ''

Headspace Headspace may refer to: *Headspace (company), an online healthcare company specializing in meditation *Headspace (organisation), an Australian non-profit organization for youth mental health *Headspace or ullage, the unfilled space in a container ...

'' on July 16, 2002. The band would appear on the

Ozzfest Ozzfest is an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, bot ...

tour that year in support of the album's release. Subsequently, the album failed to push the band into the mainstream. In early 2004 the band went back to L.A. to work on the follow-up to "Headspace". A few months into pre-production, Atlantic Records merged with AOL Time Warner. This resulted in Pulse Ultra being dropped due to minimal record sales. At some point during mid-2004, tensions grew between the band and Zo. Which soon after would lead Pulse Ultra to look for a new vocalist. In a post on the band's official forum, Zo stated that the split was amicable and they were all on good terms. Despite auditioning Lukas Rossi, the band would disband shortly after. They are now all involved in other projects. Dominic Cifarelli (guitarist) released his debut solo project The Chronicles of Israfel in 2007 and this project is on hiatus as he now plays bass in

Scars on Broadway Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway (previously known as just Scars on Broadway) is an American rock band founded by Daron Malakian of the metal band System of a Down. The band's self-titled debut album was released in July 2008. In late 20 ...

is now playing bass in electronic/avant-garde band Elsiane and is working on other numerous endeavours which include soundtrack music and a project titled Hallway Memoirs. Maxx Zinno later played drums for the Los Angeles-based indie rock trio Run. Their single "Build Your Cages" was featured on the soundtrack for Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, released by EA in 2002.

Members

* Zo Vizza – vocals * Dominic Cifarelli – guitar (The Chronicles of Israfel, ex-

Scars On Broadway Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway (previously known as just Scars on Broadway) is an American rock band founded by Daron Malakian of the metal band System of a Down. The band's self-titled debut album was released in July 2008. In late 20 ...

) * Jeff Feldman – bass * Maxx Zinno – drums

Discography

References

External links

*
Pulse Ultra
on Myspace {{Authority control Canadian alternative metal musical groups Musical groups from Montreal Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Atlantic Records artists