A Sound of Thunder seemingly came out of nowhere in 2012 with their album Out of the Darkness: an album that was highly praised by critics and fans alike. It was a musical kaleidoscope containing shades of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Warlock. To tide fans over while working on their follow-up album, the band released an EP entitled Queen of Hell. That just intensified the anticipation for that follow-up album. Well, that wait is almost over. The band is prepared to unleash the next chapter in the story of A Sound of Thunder.
Time’s Arrow is set for release on June 3 on the band’s own Mad Neptune Records label. Never a band to be confined to a musical box, the album is an extension of their previous record, and it branches out even further than before. As the band was preparing to hit the road for some live dates with Raven, I managed to corner ¾ of the band to talk about the new album.
Johnny Price/RockRevolt: Most bands seem to take forever to put out new material, but you guys have tapped into something pretty special in creating new music. You had enough new material for an EP, “Queen of Hell,” as well as the new album “Times Arrow.” Describe the songwriting process; is there a method to the madness or did it just happen?
Nina/A Sound of Thunder: It happens. Usually, Josh will be inspired enough to write a new song once every few days. Then, Chris and I fight over who gets to write the lyrics! Though sometimes, I’ll write something, and it will be complete madness until it all comes together. That’s how we wrote “The Night Witch.”
Josh/A Sound of Thunder: It really just happens. Since Chris and I formed this band way back in 2008, we have always started our rehearsals by just jamming and improvising. When it was just the two of us, there was no bassist for me to solo over, so I had to just jam riffs, chord progressions, and melodies to keep things interesting. So, in that way, we’ve been training ourselves to write songs, and it just seems to keep getting easier and more natural. A lot of our songs are generated in rehearsal from jams, but I will also frequently just plug into my computer, put on a click track or drum machine, and write on my own. Usually when I get started on that path, I get consumed by the song and will create a whole demo before the band even hears the song. That’s how the bulk of the writing happens, but every once in a while someone else will have an idea that we use as a starting point and write from there. Jesse brought in two great jazzy riffs in an odd time signature for the next record, and we turned that into an intro and I wrote a ’70s Sabbathy kind of thing around it. Likewise, Chris had the drum beat and lyrics for “Broken Bridge” before any of the rest of that was written, and Nina’s vocal melodies and lyrics were the starting point on “The Night Witch” and a new song called “Master of Pain” which will be on the next record. So while I do the bulk of the writing, everyone in the band contributes some great ideas!
Johnny/RR: How did Veronica Freeman end up appearing on the title track to that EP?
Nina: I met Veronica at Flight of the Valkyries in 2009 and she was like this great beacon of hope. I saw myself aspiring to be as good as she was, and we kept in touch. When Queen of Hell was written, we had the idea to include some other female vocalists, and Veronica and I just clicked.
Johnny/RR: You went with Kevin Gutierrez again on Time’s Arrow. Was there ever any discussion of using another producer? What’s your working relationship like with Kevin?
Nina: Kevin’s awesome. He knows just how to get what we want out of us. I’ve never been more comfortable around a producer, which is important when someone’s directing you.
Josh: Never. He’s our Martin Birch. We have a great working relationship, we’re on the same wavelength musically, and he’s just a good guy. We try only to work with good, trustworthy people that have their head screwed on straight, and that’s Kevin. Except for the hookers. (Kidding!)
Jesse/A Sound of Thunder: The recording process with Kevin is absurdly easy. We set up and put down several rhythm tracks in a day. He has a good ear for what works, obviously, and I think we get the best product available with him.
Johnny/RR: Is there any song on the album that Kevin may have pushed you out of your comfort zone?
Nina: No, the band does that enough without Kevin stepping in! Although, he did encourage me to use my clean voice a bit more often than I had planned.
Josh: I wouldn’t say “out of our comfort zone”. He doesn’t help us write, and as far as arrangements he will usually only suggest cutting parts shorter if they’re repeating too many times, etc. Where he does push us is in adding little embellishments throughout the songs to keep things fresh, little changes in the riffs here and there, etc. And the production elements, sound effects, etc. are mostly his handiwork.
Johnny/RR: You have a guest appearance by Blaze Bayley on “My Disease.” How did that come about?
Josh: We asked and he said yes! It was really as simple as that. Nina knew she wanted this to be a duet when she started writing the lyrics. I wrote the lyrics for the male voice after we got Blaze on board, so I wrote them specifically with his voice in mind. I’m a big fan of his solo work and knew he would be a good fit for this kind of dark, personal lyric.
Johnny/RR: I read in the press release that you shopped the album around to a few labels, but you were “too eclectic to market.” How frustrating is that as an artist?
Josh: Well, it was pretty frustrating. We don’t have big egos, we were prepared to be turned down, but not for the reasons that we were given. We weren’t prepared for A&R people telling us that they personally really liked the music, the classic vibe of it all, etc., but that they were passing anyway. And this was from small traditional metal labels as well as bigger ones. I didn’t realize the degree to which labels are just serving up more of the same over and over again, giving people what they think they want to hear and see. God help you if you have a ballad or anything with some groove or classic rock feel on your metal album. On the other hand, if we all just wore denim vests and made every song sound like “Queen of Hell,” we’d have been signed. Look, we don’t think we’re breaking bold new ground in music, we just try to write good songs and draw on all the various influences within the band, and there’s no way we’re going to homogenize our sound to satisfy some marketing analyst.
Watch the lyric video for “I Will Not Break”
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Johnny/RR: So, with that being said, you started your own label Mad Neptune’s Records. Will you be bringing in other bands to record?
Nina: I would love to. There are a few bands I’d love to work with. We do a lot of stuff in-house, such as web design and product design, and that’s the kind of thing a lot of talented bands need a hand with.
Josh: We’d like to help some other bands in a similar position to A Sound of Thunder. If you have a good album but are stuck between genres, we’ll help you put your music out there if you need that help. We’ve gotten pretty good at that, but I think the days of labels putting up budget for bands to record are pretty much behind us now. Everyone’s on their own in that respect. There’s no way to recoup due to all the piracy.
Johnny/RR: The title track to the album is pretty freaking epic, not only in length, but in its composition. Can you give us some background on the song?
Josh: “Time’s Arrow” was an instrumental demo that I did before the band even formed. I believe I recorded it in 2008 or 2009. At that point, I was just challenging myself to write the longest songs I could! “Discovery” from “Out of the Darkness” was another old home demo. There’s also a third called “Explorer” that clocks in at 18 minutes which we may record someday. Getting back to Time’s Arrow, the title was taken from a story in “Captain America” comics around that time, and musically there was some inspiration from Maiden’s “Caught Somewhere in Time”, and as far as all the layers, I was particularly into Priest’s “Nostradamus” album at the time that I wrote and recorded “Time’s Arrow”.
Johnny/RR: The videos from “Out of the Darkness” were pretty awesome. Is there one being planned for “I Will Not Break” or any others?
Nina: Yes! We’ve got some ideas spinning. Right now, it’s all a matter of time. We’ve got so many things to do, so shooting a video has to fit with our schedule.
Josh: We are definitely planning to do a video, but we are mulling a lot of options. There are several songs on the album that would lend themselves to concept videos.
Johnny/RR: I am curious about the short story that Chris wrote that’s in the limited box set edition. Without giving too much away, can you tell us a little more about it?
Josh: The lyrics of the song “Time’s Arrow” are somewhat vague, describing a lonely man obsessed with trying to create a time machine in order to change his past and bring back his loved ones. The story expands on the specific events that brought the main character (the scientist seen on the album cover) to the point where we find him in the song, delves into his mind set, and also sets up a possible sequel.
Johnny/RR: You guys expanded your touring radius a bit last year and played shows in a few new states. I know you have a few dates posted already going into June. What else are you looking at as far as touring goes (if you are at liberty to say)?
Nina: I know I’m personally dying to hit Europe, and a few states we’ve never been to (Texas, California, Louisiana), so it’s all a matter of fitting it into our schedules.
Josh: We do have a few specific things brewing, but in general we are looking to play everywhere we possibly can. We’ll be doing our best to tour the gulf coast, west coast, and Europe, before the next album comes out.
Jesse: The gig in Omaha last year was honestly the furthest west I’ve ever been, and I want to push further out towards the west coast soon. Closer to home, I’d like to hit up the New England states, too.
Johnny/RR: With the shows you did last year, are there any shows, good or bad, that really stand out?
Nina: My favorite show was probably the show we did with Rhapsody of Fire in Baltimore. Not only did I get to open for one of my favorite bands, but I had a drink with Fabio Lione and discussed “singer matters.” We griped about things together and it was magical. The crowd was great!
Josh: Definitely Nashville, Tennessee at the end of our spring tour in 2012. The schedule was completely shot; we ended up not hitting the stage until after 2am in the morning. I remember Chris and Jesse in particular were really angry, pounding down Red Bull’s trying to stay awake, and were seriously considering just cancelling. But we played the show anyway and something magical happened where we played great, got a burst of energy, and got a great reaction for a crowd that somehow was still there at that time in the morning!
Jesse: I’d say that it is a toss-up between the release party for “Out of the Darkness” and, as Josh mentioned, the Nashville show. The “Out of the Darkness” show was one of those shows where everything went pretty much perfectly before and during the show. Nashville was a total mess prior to the show’s start, but suddenly, we’re playing for a packed room well after midnight on a Saturday. Go figure that.
Johnny/RR: So much happened last year for you guys with the release of “Out of the Darkness.” What were some highlights for you that really stand out?
Nina: Having so many people reach out to us when they heard the music; people from all over the world. That was incredible.
Josh: Really, just all the great reviews of the album that we received. I have to admit that it was great to get that validation from people all over the world. It gave us confidence going back into the studio for the next album.
Jesse: Des Moines, we were walking around the area the morning before the show and went into a hippie shop near our hotel. The guys behind the counter recognized us from a local paper that was promoting the show. We ended up playing a pretty killer gig and went out with the other bands for pizza afterwards.
Johnny/RR: If you could travel back in time to the eight year old version of yourself, what advice would you give yourself?
Nina: “Now look, little Nina. You’re on the right track. Don’t get upset when the kids tease you, they’re just jealous that you got to sing the solo in the school play. But most importantly, find a way to get mom and dad to buy you Fear of the Dark, Dehumanizer, and The Triumph of Steel. Trust me.”
Josh: Other than not selling my 1st gen “Optimus Prime” action figure and all my G.I. Joes at a garage sale for pennies? Probably to start playing guitar sooner! (I didn’t start until I was 17.) 
Jesse: “Don’t climb that tree in the backyard, ever! Also, start working on that guitar as soon as Dad gives it to you.”
Johnny/RR: Well, I think that’s a wrap! As always, it’s been a pleasure talking to all of you. I strongly encourage our listeners to check out Time’s Arrow when it’s released on June 3. I think we’re entering an exciting new chapter in the on-going story of A Sound of Thunder. 2013 should be an interesting year as the band continues to ascend that ladder of musical success.
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