Music

Forging a Dream

new cross-country metal supergroup Terraform creates spacey soundscapes

Rob Hanson |

BASEMENT SHOW. The members of the metal supergroup Terraform include personnel from Eau Claire’s Our Judgment and Des Moines, Iowa-based band The Opportunist.
BASEMENT SHOW. The members of the metal supergroup Terraform include personnel from Eau Claire’s Our Judgment and Des Moines, Iowa-based band The Opportunist.

If band names mean anything at all, it only seems fitting members of a band called The Opportunist would take a tough-luck situation – such as a flat tire – and turn it into the next big thing in technical metal music. And so it went for newly formed Midwestern supergroup Terraform, which proudly boasts members of The Opportunist (Des Moines, Iowa) and Our Judgment (Eau Claire), and is raring to release its debut EP Dream|Construct on March 10.

While on a tour last summer that thrashed its way through the Bible Belt, splitting the country down the middle from Eau Claire to Texas, local metalheads Our Judgment found themselves stranded in Des Moines. But instead of ringing AAA, frontman Jake Olson reached out to kindred spirits in The Opportunist. Nothing brings people together like car trouble, and Opportunist guitarist Nick Kelly capitalized on the band’s downtime to demo some of his yet-to-be-titled side project. As they say, the rest is history.

As far as just writing goes, it almost works better to be able to do it at your own pace.” – Jake Olson of Terraform on being in a long-distance band

With the dissolution of Our Judgment, Olson and bassist Chris Galetka have forged on with Kelly and drummer Mike Schuler, as well as guitarist Josh Solvedt (who studies music in Memphis, Tenn.) under the appropriately sci-fi themed moniker Terraform. Though the combination is one part Opportunist-esque beat-down hardcore, one part tweaked-out Our Judgment technical styling, the overall Terraform vibe is an animal all its own. With a heavy dose of guitar effects and some slick production, the five tracks of Dream|Construct are as eerie as they are heavy, providing a spacey soundscape to fully bring Olson’s twilight zone tales of mathematical rhythms and extraterrestrials into the REM stage.

But the themes underlying Dream |Construct aren’t meant to be totally out of this world. In a recent interview, Olson said he has also focused on bringing a personal perspective to his songs. “It’s not like I’m getting old, but I had a birthday and I started thinking about more important things and what I want my legacy to be,” said the spry 25-year-old Olson. “We can do a lot of cool things in life, but not everyone takes advantage of that sometimes. ... I wanted to start writing about things that I feel more personal about. (The track) ‘Into the Void’ was about just understanding that our time on Earth is brief, in the grand scheme of things it’s very, very short and being OK with that.”

The EP was recorded partially in the Twin Cities and partially in Des Moines, and was mastered by Julian Rodriguez of the band Elitist at his Parallel Focus Studios – an honor for a band whose members have all been influenced by Elitist to some degree. The wonders of the Internet and file sharing have made Terraform possible, but they haven’t erased the hundreds of miles separating members. That makes it tough to jam, but also provides some creative space for writing members like Olson and Solvedt. “Practicing with the last band, we had certain evenings that we all had to meet up and practice,” Olson said. “And obviously that paid dividends with our live set and being able to play our instruments. But as far as just writing goes, it almost works better to be able to do it at your own pace.”

Though Terraform has been enjoying a steadily growing online fan base with the release of its first single, “Ascending Steps,” as well as a nifty sponsorship by TRX cymbals, the band is chomping at the bit to hit the stage. Their first live performances together will be in June as they embark on a tour of the Midwest that concludes June 21 at The Plus, 208 S. Barstow St.

“Dream|Construct” will be available for download March 10 at terraform-us.bandcamp.com on a name-your-own-price basis. CDs will be available in June.