Washington, DC-based heavy metallers A SOUND OF THUNDER have begun work on their third full-length album, entitled Time's Arrow. The band has entered Assembly Line Studios with producer Kevin "131" Gutierrez (WHILE HEAVEN WEPT, RAVEN). With the same band lineup, producer and studio that created 2012's Out Of The Darkness (Nightmare Records), Time's Arrow features 11 new songs combining rousing and catchy traditional metal with crushing modern production. Time's Arrow will release in early 2013 and is the subject of the band's current Kickstarter campaign.

Blaze Bayley (ex-IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) makes an appearance on the album, performing a duet with vocalist Nina Osegueda on the track 'My Disease'.

"Blaze is a legendary figure in the history of metal, but more importantly he brings incredible power, passion and sincerity to his performances, and that's exactly what we needed on this song. Musically it has little in common with Maiden, and sounds more like a cross between BLACK SABBATH and Blaze's first few solo albums... and of course A Sound Of Thunder", said guitarist Josh Schwartz.

Bayley commented: "It has been a real pleasure to work on this song. Filled with passion and intensity, it has an edge. I wish A Sound Of Thunder the very best of luck with their project, but with a song this good, I don't think they will need luck."

On August 20th, A Sound of Thunder started a Kickstarter.com fundraiser campaign for the recording of Time's Arrow. The campaign will run for 30 days and offers fans a chance to pre-order the album, have their name printed in the album booklet, reserve an ultra-limited box set edition of the album, and acquire unique and rare items from the band. Video at the band's Kickstarter page contains the first clips from the new album. The Kickstarter campaign can be found here.

The band has also announced a second new release, the Queen Of Hell EP, due out in November. Also recorded at Assembly Line Studios with producer Kevin "131" Gutierrez, the Queen Of Hell EP contains four new tracks and is only available via the band's Kickstarter campaign.

A preview of the EP can be found below:

The cover art for Queen Of Hell can be seen below:

"We've always wanted to do an homage to classic swords & sorcery themed metal album covers", says lead vocalist Nina Osegueda. "As you can see, we've gone horns up with the Queen Of Hell art... I finally have the throne of skulls I've always wanted!"

The cover art was provided by Serbian artist Dušan Markovi?.