Tony Iommi – From The Dark
Tony Iommi has spent his entire life pulling riffs out of a guitar as if it were a cold engine that nevertheless always starts. As the only member to have remained with Black Sabbath from day one, he wrote the handbook for the heaviest music there is. The fact that the band said its final goodbye in Birmingham in 2025 did not mean that the man put his guitar away in its case. With “From The Dark”, the now 78-year-old guitarist delivers his first proper solo album since 2005’s “Fused”. He did not do it alone. Singer Jørn Lande, known for the final Heaven & Hell performances after Dio’s death, co-wrote every track. Becky Baldwin plays bass, Karl Brazil drums, and Mike Exeter produced the album alongside Iommi.
There are eight tracks, and anyone who likes long detours should look elsewhere. “Over The Violent Sun” opens with a grinding, low-tuned riff that immediately makes it clear where you are. It smells of “The Devil You Know” and sometimes even of Sabbath’s Tony Martin years. First single “World Alone” is faster and hits hard, but remains catchy. “Beyond The Dead” opens up the orchestral register, while “Stormwatcher” is full of nautical metaphors, with Lande dwelling on the transience of existence in his lyrics.
The strongest moment is “Death Wake”, featuring Brian May as a guest. It begins with a dirty, winding riff, then collapses in on itself and gives Lande room to sing in an almost narrative style, before a choir erupts that sounds almost like Viking metal. It sounds dark and cinematic, like the closing credits of something much bigger. “Return Of The Arbalist” is then an uncomplicated fist in the air, and closer “Legacy” lasts around seven minutes and gives Lande another chance to show what he can do.
The production is enormous. Iommi’s guitar is front and centre without flattening everything else, and his lead work is remarkably restrained, showing how to build tension without showing off. The fact that the album feels like something Sabbath could have made is both its greatest attraction and its weakness. Anyone who believes Iommi should invent something new will be disappointed. The rhythm section also sounds tight and modern, but lacks the loose swing of the seventies. It does what it needs to do, providing a solid platform for that guitar, and nothing more.
That is less of a problem than you might think, because the album is not trying to prove anything. Iommi says as much himself, and you can hear it in every note. It is neither a museum piece nor a nostalgia trip, but an old master doing what he does best with a band that lets him get on with it. “From The Dark” is above all heavy, dark and rock-solid. These songs will hit even harder live, and that seems to be exactly what they were made for. (8/10) (BMG)
