No broken bones or near death experiences can keep us down. To that end we are proud to announce that we’re opening for the mighty Arkona on September 1st at the Baltimore Soundstage! This will be our first performance since Nina sustained serious injuries in a car accident.

Get your tickets direct from us here: ARKONA + ASOT TICKETS 

For those who haven’t heard, Nina’s car was hit by a bus on July 4th. Her car rolled over and Nina’s pelvis was broken in three places. After four days in the hospital Nina was sent home to begin recovering. As you can see from the image of her car post-accident below, we're lucky she's still with us at all!

As of this writing Nina is still using a wheelchair most of the time, using a walker to move short distances, and is able to move from one position to another using a cane. Nina pushed to schedule this performance on September 1. Having a gig on the books will give her extra motivation to keep up with her physical therapy and get back to her old Queen of Hell self! 

Nothing lasts forever. We’re lucky to still be here now, and we can’t promise we’ll still be here next year. That’s always been true, but getting hit by a bus really drives the point home. We hope you’ll join us on September 1st to see the Queen of Hell get back on stage, and to celebrate life and metal!

Welcome to the Deadside... 

...and welcome to A Sound of Thunder's first official concert film! LIVE FROM THE DEADSIDE is a complete, uncut and unedited live concert professionally filmed on six cameras. LIVE FROM THE DEADSIDE puts you in the trenches with ASoT's local fanbase at a hot & sweaty club show near Washington, DC. 

Availabe now on digital download and limited edition Blu-ray + CD. 

Once again, the Legion of Thunder has surpassed all expectations! Live from the Deadside has made $20,000! Pat yourselves on the back, and check in for more updates on stretch goals! Who knows where it can go from here? We've got 18 days left!

Hey Legion! 2019 has begun and we're busy writing new music, but we've also got some awesome shows in store for you! First on the menu is a show in April with Sky Raider and Humungus at Dangerously Delicious Pies DC! Check out our shows page for tickets and info on all the rest!

Legion of Thunder, we're happy to announce our next tour in Catalonia! October is a very important month over there and we're so thankful we were able to make these shows happen. See you soon! Bon cop de falç!

Legion of Thunder! We're getting hyped for our next few shows, all of which have a very specific theme! 

We'll be playing on Friday August 24th at CENTER STAGE GAMING AND COMIC-CON!  Come for the metal, stay for the comics and games! The next night we'll be at MAD WITH POWER FEST, where there will be even more video games!

And finally, on September 29th we will be in Baltimore once again for METAL QUEST V! This is the Saturday night of Baltimore Comic-Con, one of the best comic conventions on the East Coast! This year's Metal Quest includes a DJ and yes, you guessed it, VIDEO GAMES! So wear your finest cosplay and come party with us!

We are so excited to announce that our album release show will be on August 4th at Ram's Head Live!! This is a huge venue in our area, and we'll be headlining with 70 minutes! Grab your tickets today!

We spoke with artist and writer Rafer Roberts about his work on the It Was Metal graphic novel. Rafer wrote three stories in the book and drew one story. We first encountered Rafer on the comics convention scene through our mutual connection with Valiant Entertainment. Rafer is best know for his creator-owned projects Nightmare the Rat and Plastic Farm, and for his work on Valiant's Harbinger: Renegade and A&A: The Adventures of Archer & Armstrong. His new series Modern Fantasy debuts on June 27th from Dark Horse Comics.

It Was Metal featuring the work of Rafer Roberts is available now through A Sound of Thunder, Amazon.com and on Kickstarter through Friday, June 1st.

BUY FROM ASOT  -  BUY ON KICKSTARTER  -  BUY ON AMAZON

A Sound of Thunder: What are your thoughts on the connection between music and comics? 

Rafer Roberts: Some of my happiest memories of growing up were laying around, putting on my headphones, and reading a big pile of comics. So, for me, there is that emotional connection. But it goes beyond that. 

Comics and music have always been intertwined. One example is Superman. It's hard to think of Superman without that John Williams score popping into your head. Then you've got crossover between creators. Crumb did the cover art for Big Brother, Danzig wrote a line of comics back in the '90s, and Gerard Way has basically taken over a corner of DC. 

There's also the fact that for parts of history music and comics were seen as blights upon society. Comics and music have been accused of promoting sex, violence, the overthrow of polite society, and I say, yes. Yes they do. At least the good ones do, anyway. 

ASOT: What’s your favorite band? 

Rafer: Other than A Sound of Thunder? That's an incredibly difficult question to narrow down, so I'll just list a lot of bands I listen to and like:. Nick Cave, Faith No More, Ween, Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Klaatu, James Brown, Monster Magnet, Black Sabbath, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, NOFX, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, a few Harry Nilsson, The Turtles, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Blue Oyster Cult, Les Claypool, The Who, Guns 'n' Roses, Ennio Morricone, War, Leonard Cohen, Mojo Nixon, The Pogues, Rasputina, Reverend Horton Heat…and I'm gonna stop now. 

ASOT: First concert you attended? 

Rafer: First one ever was either Bo Diddly at some amusement park or the Beach Boys playing post-game at Yankee Stadium. 

First one on my own was Guns n' Roses Use Your Illusion tour at Madison Square Garden. Soundgarden was the opener and no one was into them at all. I remember that GnR took forever to hit the stage, but that the jumbotron thing was showing women in the audience flashing their boobs. I was a high school freshman's at the time, so that was pretty cool. Oh, also it was Gilby Clarke's second or third show with the band after replacing Izzy, and he fucked up a few times. The crowd seemed forgiving. 

ASOT: Last concert you attended? 

Rafer: It was actually A Sound of Thunder. But I fucked up and missed their set, like an asshole. 

Before that, if I remember right, it was Seu George doing his Bowie covers. Real good, super chill. 

ASOT: Do you play an instrument, and have you ever been in a band? 

Rafer: Ha ha! I used to play the sax, primarily in my high school marching band. I don't think I enjoyed playing enough to try to do it outside of school. I was the lead singer in a band in high school though. We did mostly classic rock, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, Clapton. 

ASOT: If you had your own band, what kind of music would it play, and what would it be called? 

Rafer: I'd probably try to sing again, and I would steal the name of my high school band: Chübakka. 

ASOT: What comes to mind when you think of your work on your stories in It Was Metal? (Any particular challenges, favorite aspects, changes you made, etc.?) 

Rafer: For the Charles the 2nd one, the one I also drew, I was going for an old horror comic vibe, like an old EC deal. The narrative structure of the lyrics worked real well in that regard, and lent themselves to some fairly gruesome scenes. I had a blast drawing this. 

For "Obsidian & Gold", Josh sent me a lot of background and reference, detailing this real cool Blue Öyster Cult mythology. My challenge was boiling it all down to a 4-page comic. I focused primarily on how the Sound of Thunder song also adapted this mythology and focused on those aspects. My favorite bit was putting the band into this story. They didn't ask me to, but I kinda saw this comic as the video for the song and I really wanted to ape old videos where bands like Twisted Sister were akin to super-heroes commanding the power of metal. Roberto kicked some serious ass on the art and Trav [Hart, colorist] brought it to life with his colors. I'm really happy with how this one turned out. 

"Lifebringer" was a ton of fun, and I'll jump at any chance to work with Ben [Templesmith]. This one I looked at like an old Heavy Metal anthology piece, big and weird and trippy as hell. There's actually a lot more to this story, so hopefully people dig it so we can jump back into this world. 

ASOT: When working on It Was Metal, were you inspired by any particular comics creators, stories or characters? What references of your own did you bring to the story? 

Rafer: Well, aside from the influences mentioned in the previous question, I also looked at creators like Steve Gerber, Steve Englehart, Steve Bissette, and all those stoned writers and artists named Steve from the 70s. I mean, I do this with all my work, but I also did it here. (Also Rick Veitch, Alan Moore, and so on!) 

ASOT: What is your latest project that you would like to promote? 

I've got Modern Fantasy with Kristen Gudsnuk on art coming out from Dark Horse on June 27th. It's a slacker-adventure-comedy taking place in a world where every fantasy novel or D&D module was our ancient history. 

And I'm working on something with Mike Norton, Marissa Louise, and Crank! that hasn't been announced yet (but it's AWESOME). I'll be talking everyone's ear off about it on Twitter soon enough. 

ASOT: For new fans interested in checking out your work, with what one book or project should they start? 

If folks are into buddy comedies with a bit of surreal adventure, A&A: The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong. If gritty teenage superheroes are more their bag, Harbinger: Renegade. Slightly disturbing newspaper comics your thing? Check out Nightmare the Rat. Incredibly long psychedelic trips through one man's descent into madness? That's Plastic Farm. And, of course, Modern Fantasy, which comes out June 27th. 

Rafer’s web & social media links: 

Website: http://www.plasticfarm.com 

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/plasticfarm 

Twitter: twitter.com/plasticfarm 

Instagram: instagram.com/plasticfarm

We interviewed artist Kendall Goode about his work on the It Was Metal comic anthology. Kendall is a multiple threat, having drawn, colored and lettered “It Was Metal”, which has already been cited in advance reviews as a stand-out story in the book. He was also instrumental in completing the entire collection, having lettered five of the book’s ten stories. Kendall is best known for his mini-series The Doorman published by Heavy Metal, and for his work on BOOM! Studios’ WWE comics.   

It Was Metal featuring the work of Kendall Goode is now on Kickstarter, where several of Kendall's original art pages are also available. You can also order It Was Metal from the A Sound of Thunder web-store, or, if you prefer to feed the big corporations, you can buy it from Amazon.com. 

Buy on Kickstarter - Buy on ASOT Store - Buy on Amazon

A Sound of Thunder: What are your thoughts on the connection between music and comics? 

Kendall Goode: Despite comics rarely having audio components, there’s probably a lot more inter-connectivity between music and comics than people think. Writers and artists create playlists of songs to go along with a comic, whether its music they used to set a tone for themselves or curating a soundtrack. Like any piece of media, songs can help expand the experience of reading a comic. 

ASOT: What’s your favorite band? 

Kendall: Probably Blink 182. 

ASOT: First concert you attended? 

Kendall: Franz Ferdinand/Death Cab for Cutie. 

ASOT: Last concert you attended? 

Kendall: Oh, it’s been a while. Sleigh Bells, I think? 

ASOT: Do you play an instrument, and have you ever been in a band? 

Kendall: I do not. In grade school I played a year of trombone and then the following year they made me change to tuba/sousaphone after another kid quit the band. Luckily, I moved after that year and no longer had to worry about being in that school band. 

In high school I was friends with a lot of music/bands people and goofed around for a single open mic night doing what I guess would be considered ‘singing’. It was awful. 

ASOT: If you had your own band, what kind of music would it play, and what would it be called? 

Kendall: I’m a big fan of Motion City Soundtrack and that broadly labeled pop-punk or emo. But maybe add in some pop like Robyn or Tegan and Sara. As for a band name...something like Date Knight or Professor Television. 

ASOT: What comes to mind when you think of your work on "It Was Metal"? (Any particular challenges, favorite aspects, changes you made, etc.) 

Kendall: I usually work digitally, so there’s always a learning curve to switching it up with pencilling/inking traditionally.* But the end result was something different than my usual work, especially with the more conceptual ideas presented in the short. Comic storytelling tends to lean toward straight forward tv-style narratives, while It Was Metal goes in a more music video/montage direction. 

ASOT: When working on (your story in It Was Metal), were you inspired by any particular comics creators, stories or characters? What references of your own did you bring to the story? 

Kendall: I definitely was trying to lean into as much colorful sixties Marvel Comics as possible. Jack Kirby and the grander, more out-there, visuals of superhero based sci-fi. I love Metalocalypse and the DoomStar Requiem opera so there’s definitely influence there, too. 

ASOT: What is your latest project that you would like to promote? 

I’ve mostly been doing work on BOOM! Studios WWE comics. I helped out drawing parts of WWE #16 and #17 and I have shorts in almost all of their over-sized special issues (Wrestlemania 2018, Royal Rumble 2018, etc). 

ASOT: For new fans interested in checking out your work, with what one book or project should they start? 

Kendall: The Doorman, a sci-fi adventure comedy mini-series written by Eliot Rahal and Daniel Kibblesmith that we did a couple years ago. It was published by Heavy Metal. 

Kendall’s web & social media links: 

Web: www.kendallgoode.com 

Twitter: @KendallGoode

We interviewed the legendary Bob Hall about his work on the It Was Metal comic anthology. Bob is best known for co-creating the West Coast Avengers, his long run as both artist and writer on the original Shadowman series, and for writing and drawing several popular Batman graphic novels. Bob has worked on many major characters and titles for Marvel, DC, and Valiant. He is also an accomplished playwright and director, and is a co-founder of the Flatware Shakespeare Company in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Bob penciled and inked the ten-page story "Phantom Flight" for It Was Metal. You can get the book and some of Bob's original art pages on Kickstarter through June 1st. CLICK HERE TO ORDER

A Sound of Thunder: What are your thoughts on the connection between music and comics? 

Bob Hall: Wow. Haven’t thought of it that way. Comics have their own rhythm and I often concoct the images so that a kind of “beat” is present.  Comics manipulate time, just as films and music do. 

ASOT: What’s your favorite band? 

Bob: Depends on my mood. I wish I could name you a metal band that was a favorite but metal has never been my favorite sound. I suppose that I always go back to Springsteen, particularly with E Street. I’m the right age for him, The Stones, The Beatles, The Who , The Kinks – and if I want to persuade myself to exercise I often put on George Thorogood. 

ASOT: What was the first concert you attended?  

Bob: If you’re talking ANY concert , it was the old folk group from the sixties, The Limelighters. (I’m that old.) My first R&B concert was Ray Charles. First rock was The Who. 

ASOT: Last concert you attended?  

Bob: Elvis Costello. 

ASOT: Do you play an instrument, and have you ever been in a band? 

Bob: God no. You wouldn’t want that. 

ASOT: If you had your own band, what kind of music would it play, and what would it be called? 

Bob: It would play whatever I wrote after I miraculously became musically adept and it would be called Doctor X after a masked pro wrassler I loved when I was 14. 

ASOT: What comes to mind when you think of your work on “Phantom Flight”, your story in It Was Metal? (Any particular challenges, favorite aspects, changes you made, etc.?) 

Bob: Trying to turn real people into comic characters is always a challenge but especially when you are only working from photo reference.  You never have a photo showing faces from every angle you need and while you can project what someone would probably look like from that angle, you can never be sure.  Beyond that I never feel my forte is drawing airplanes – but I love doing explosions. 

ASOT: When working on “Phantom Flight”, were you inspired by any particular comics creators, stories or characters? What references of your own did you bring to the story? 

Bob: I always refer to Wally Wood’s work when I do airplanes or other military weaponry. As for my own work, the ruined cities reminded me of work I did on Batman when Gotham was ravaged by an earthquake. 

ASOT: What is your latest project that you would like to promote? 

Bob: I’ll let you know as soon as someone hires me to do it. Anyone out there need a comic artist? (ASOT: We guess that means the answer is It Was Metal!) 

ASOT: For new fans interested in checking out your work, with what one book or project should they start? 

Bob: My best work is the stuff I wrote myself: Shadowman for the old Valiant, Armed and Dangerous when Valiant became Acclaim, and the DC “Prestige” projects:  I, Joker; Batman DOA; and It’s Jokertime. 

Bob Hall’s web & social media links: 

Web: www.bobhall.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobhallcomicartist/