A Sound of Thunder - Time's Arrow (2013)

A Sound of Thunder - Time's Arrow

A Sound of Thunder is a traditional metal band (mostly) from Washington DC. They’ve been around for a handful of years and have just put out their third full length “Time’s Arrow” in a timely follow up to last year’s fantastic “Out of the Darkness” record. With this release, A Sound of Thunder is definitely showing that they not only have the capacity to be a very prolific band, but also one that maintains a consistent level of quality while naturally expanding their sound and exploring new territories.

As one of the few modern bands I feel comfortable simply calling “heavy metal”, A Sound of Thunder really show no preference for one sub-genre or another, and bring in a variety of influences from power/speed metal, NWOBHM, hard rock, the blues, and even some tasteful jazz elements. Yet despite such an eclectic approach, and no desire to be limited by the prescriptive standards of genre-elitists, ASoT has a completely identifiable and rock solid identity because the styles of each member on their respective instruments are so well developed and identifiable.

Guitarist Josh Schwartz is the sole axeman of the band, but he is so well rounded in all aspects of his playing that he needs no accompaniment; he provides tasteful leads, powerful riffs, and well thought out compositions. The riffs throughout Time’s Arrow–especially on Queen of Hell–all have such a unique flavor to them. They appropriately restrain themselves for the sake of the song when necessary, yet also go balls to the wall when Josh decides he needs to destroy a universe or two. You will definitely be humming and playing air guitar long after hearing this release. Jesse’s bass playing is notably excellent and improved on this album. He’s always provided a solid low end, but his playing takes much more of the center stage this time around and is highlighted in more than one instance. Additionally, he works the keyboards which appear occasionally on the album to add to the often dark and fantastical atmosphere. I should also mention the guitar and bass tone on this album are absolutely top shelf. Clear, crunchy, and positively devastating. Chris Haren once again delivers a solid performance on the drums, with a unique funk to it that often creates interesting rhythms. He also makes sure your head does not stop moving regardless of how fast or slow a song is. Nina Osegueda expectedly delivers a powerful performance and shows an impressive range as a vocalist. She has the perfect spread of both melodic and aggressive styles that always work well in tandem with Josh’s diverse song writing. This was definitely true on “Out of the Darkness” as well, but “Time’s Arrow” shows her refining her craft and executing various vocal techniques with impressive and tasteful precision. Throughout Time’s Arrow, the musicians play incredibly well off each other and create a character for “A Sound of Thunder” that is often hard to find in the nameless faces of the legions of newer metal bands. I personally love when a band has personality and spunk and each member brings a specific musical profile to the band that is easy to be invested in, rather than just ‘the nameless person that plays drums/guitars/bass/vocals etc’.

The song writing on “Time’s Arrow” is tight and concise, and has a variety of headbanging moments with well placed moments of grandeur, and even a lot of somber melody. I’m particularly fond of punchier numbers like “Queen of Hell” and “Power Play” but the slower numbers like “I Will Not Break” also provide a satisfactory foot-stomping experience that echoes of 70′s era metal like Black Sabbath and Rainbow. If you are familiar with the band, you also know they have a great sense of humor about them, and I will just say that this time around the humorous song is MUCH more subtle, but when it clicks it is an entirely great payoff. Zombies, man… they creep me out.

My only real criticisms for the album is that–while all the tracks are great to fantastic–the album seems to be lacking in the epic-length track department, of which there were several on “Out of the Darkness”. Of course I don’t expect the band to rewrite the same album again–and would never want them to–but the title track is the only epic on the album, and writing long songs is a definite strength of “A Sound of Thunder” that is underused on “Time’s Arrow”. Additionally, I find Blaze Bayley’s appearance to be more or less unremarkable, especially because Nina so easily outlcasses him. I say that even having liked the Blaze era Maiden albums. But I imagine it was probably a cool experience for the band to get to work with someone obviously influential to them, and it sounded good to me on paper, so more power to them for doing so. I just feel that John Gallagher’s performance on “Out of the Darkness” was a much better executed guest vocal as John and Nina had such a great dynamic with each other.

Overall, this is definitely a strong release with marked improvements in several areas, and promises a long and creatively interesting career for the band. While they aren’t really power metal in the strictest of senses, ASoT certainly speak well for the US power/traditional scene and are showing that they mean business and have come to deliver an enticing 1.21 gigawatt metal experience that proudly displays hallmarks of the genre, while also carrying it into new, creative territories. I give this album a 90% and strongly recommend you check it out on their bandcamp, and purchase the album if you enjoy it.

And no, that isn’t the Doctor on the cover.

Originally written for Masters of Metal (http://mastersofmetal.org)

Tracklist:
01. Power Play
02. Time's Arrow
03. I Will Not Break
04. Broken Bridge
05. Queen Of Hell
06. Let's Start A Fire
07. I'll Walk With You
08. My Disease [featuring Blaze Bayley]
09. Wastelands
10. End Of The Road
11. Reign Of The Hawklords

TKP

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