With the continued popularity of heavy rock, and the inevitable escalation of volume in modern ensemble playing, two priorities have become uppermost in the minds of many drummers when choosing their cymbals: loudness and durability.

A cymbal with the sweetest ring, or quickest response is useless if it isn't producing a loud enough noise to stand out from the back line instrumentation, nor will it cope if it can't take a good nightly thrashing from players using big sticks, sometimes reversed.

The success of Paiste's 'Rude' range has underlined the demand for loud durable rock cymbals, though in fact it was Zildjian themselves who brought out the first unlathed heavy rock cymbal – the Earth ride. But this was only a one-off, and meanwhile Paiste took advantage of their expertise in using sheet metals (as opposed to cast) to produce the first complete range of unfinished heavy cymbals; the aforementioned 'Rudes'.

Zildjian having spent the intervening period developing their sheet metal technology and rigorously researching the requirements for producing a comparable cymbal, have come up with the Impulse range. Made from the same alloy as their recently-launched Amir cymbals, the Impulses are hammered heavy rock cymbals, similar in weight and look to the Rudes, though with a bright shiny finish, as opposed to the Rudes' dull bronze colour.

I tested a prototype set of Impulse cymbals at two gigs of a quite disparate nature. I used the 15" hi-hats, 18" crash, 22" ride, and 18" China Boy at a small college coffee bar gig using a 200 watt PA where none of the kit or backline was miked up. And I played the 14" hi-hats, 16" crash, 20" ride, and 20" China Boy in a toilet in Bristol called The Granary, where the band was playing through a 3k rig with everything miked.

The college bar was a small room with a low ceiling, plenty of curtains and absorbent surfaces, and a busy dance floor. The gig didn't call for any monsteroso histrionics, but with the kit unmiked and plenty of places for the sound to disappear, it was very gratifying that the cymbals cut through with such ease. My favourite from this set-up was without doubt the 18" China Boy – a beautiful shimmering gong effect with a surprisingly long sustain. The sharp attack of most china type cymbals, although effective, tends to be a bit short-lived. This one responded swiftly yet sustained like the gong being bashed by that oily macho-man at the start of those Rank film presentations.

The 22" ride was clean and surprisingly bright considering its size and tremendous weight. The bell sound would cut through the noise of a ship being built. The 18" crash was a disappointment, as was the 16" the following night – a bit of a Sooty sound. For me these cymbals are just too heavy to be effective crashes – I like to hear a swift, toppy whoosh when I give a crash cymbal a good whipping – but I found the Impulse crashes too stubborn.

It's interesting to note that none of the Rude Series is made as a straightforward crash (or ride for that matter). From 14" to 19" are designated crash/ride while 20" to 24" are described as ride/crash. Zildjian have tried to make the individual Impulse cymbals more specifically for one purpose or the other. While the Impulse ride does seem to resist the build up of overtones better than the Rude equivalent, and has a better range of tone, I wouldn't choose either make as specifically crash cymbals. The response is too slow, and the tones unattractive to my ear.

The Power Beat hi-hats incorporate the most innovatory feature of the Impulse range. The bottom cymbal has eight small semi-circular chunks cut out round the edge. This is the latest Zildjian idea for achieving a more efficient dispersion of air from between the two cymbals, while maintaining the maximum amount of metal to metal contact. A problem with Paiste's 2002 Sound Edge hi-hats (where the bottom cymbal is crinkled to let the air out) is that the hi-hat sound is diminished by the resultantly smaller area of metal to metal contact.

Now – these Power Beat hi-hats sound fantastic. Our sound engineer advised me to throw my own (very expensive) hi-hat cymbals in the dustbin after hearing these. They came through, completely unmiked, as crisp and clear as if at the front of a very sophisticated mix. But, I found them hell to play.

I hit the hi-hats, as I'm sure a lot of other rock drummers do, exclusively on the side, and I keep them pretty loose. I make sure they get a pretty fair bashing and my stand would be walking off the stage if it wasn't nailed to the floor. What kept happening was that every so often the bottom cymbal would be worked up just fractionally nearer than the top, I'd whack it with the stick sideways on, and catch the bottom cymbal just on the edge of one of the semi-circular cut-outs, causing the stick to glance off at all kinds of awkward angles.

I also broke three sticks (that's £5.25 – accounts please note) and dispersed a lot of air myself cursing this rather off putting phenomenon.

On the second night with the 14" pair I took special care to set the angle adjuster so that the hi-hats would be less prone to this happening. The situation improved somewhat, but despite the undoubtedly tremendous sound, this design is not for me.

Zildjian make a hi-hat model in the A range, called Quick Beats, that have little holes cut in the main body of the bottom cymbal, and this seems a much more sensible way of achieving the same effect. However, I'm advised that this method was tried in the research stage and isn't so efficient as the new chunks-out-of-the-side system on the Power Beats.

The second gig was in a big dank hall (an old Granary I guess) which was all painted brickwork (mostly graffiti in fact), hard surfaces, and a high ceiling. Even the stuffing from the seating round the side had been pulled out, and the sound was just horrendous, a swirling boomy scrunch of noise chasing its own tail. But despite the cacophony, the engineer told me afterwards he hadn't even needed to switch my overhead mikes on, the cymbals were so clear.

The 20" China Boy wasn't as good as the 18", though I gather these prototype China Boys are a bit thicker than the intended production cymbals will be. The 20" would indeed benefit from being a bit lighter, but I like the 18" the way it is.

The 20" ride was just phenomenal – pure, warm, with a ringing sound that made my toes curl. When I hit that bell it talked to me – the sweetest sound on the stage. And (with the adjusted 14" hi-hats) I didn't break any sticks, so perhaps I was just being super-clumsy the night before.

At a price somewhat less than the Zildjian As, and visibly cheaper than the Paiste Rudes, the Impulse series will undoubtedly create tremendous interest amongst all drummers in loudly amplified groups. Although the crashes are not my style, I would seriously consider using the 18" China or the 20" ride in my set-up. If you want to impress your engineer have a go with the Power Beat hi-hats, but check you can play 'em before you buy them.

14" Power Beat HH: £139
15" Power Beat HH: £154
16" Crash: £87
18" Crash: £105
20" Ride: £129
22" Ride: £755
18" China Boy: £132
20" China Boy: £148.
Available end of May/beginning of June.