A guild that originated in the epicentre of New York’s vast network of more challenging and unplugged music, this sharply-named trio draws on the accumulated experience of its core members to create music that embraces and extends their respective skills. A very broad one at that. Formed by Peter Evans on trumpet, Tim Dahl on electric bass and vocals and Mike Pride on drums and percussion, all people with unstoppable activity in fields ranging from jazz to more skewed metal, from noise to experimentalism, joining the dots between these and other forms and non-forms, Pulverise The Sound take their war name as a manifesto for an improvised sound that brings these lineages together in a flow that goes from contemplation full of texture and lyricism to explosions of noise and fire. No rushes or spit collages. It’s only natural, coming from respected people who are always looking for new solutions and whose CV includes numerous collaborations with names such as Evan Parker, Mary Halvorson, Weasel Walter, Mick Barr, JG Thirlwell or Lydia Lunch and too many bands to list. ‘Black’, their third album, released in 2022 on Relative Pitch, is 100 per cent improvisation, in full proof of these aligned instincts, which, whether in their shorter moments – ‘Downtick’ or ‘Breakover Point’ – or their more epic ones – ‘STAG’ and ‘Ex-All’ – go from calm to boisterous with blessed security and unpredictability. Everything is aware of its place in a volatile gestalt formed by Evans’ infinite trumpet, as if snaking through Dahl’s cascades of distortion and elusive lines and Pride’s constantly changing drums. BS