“It’s not the fame that I’m after / I just need eternal flame”
Last Friday I read about Tony Iommi‘s new album, “From the Dark“, as it was its official release date. I had no idea it will be released, had no idea how it sounded, had no idea who played on it (besides Iommi, of course). But I listened to one track, “Over the Violent Sun” and my jaw dropped with a clashing sound. Heavy, repetitve riffs, a voice which at first I thought was Bruce Dickinson’s, drums worthy of a classic doom metal band and an overall feeling of ‘old school’ desolation, but with a slight modern approach and a heavy metal spirit. I instantly ordered the album from my local music shop and yesterday I picked it up. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the deluxe, limited edition digibook and man, it’s definitely worth having it.
Once I came home I finally put the album on and my amazement grew even greater as the music poured from the headset and the beautiful booklet unfurled before my eyes. “From the Dark” is Iommi‘s first album in 20 years and believe me that it’s been worth the wait. It has 8 tracks but, if you bought the deluxe edition, you’ll get two more (instrumentals) as bonus. Pretty neat, right?
The master of the primordial riffs has summoned several musicians to help him in this endeavor, and the result is absolutely stunning. For the vocal parts we have Jorn Lande (Masterplan, Jorn, Avantasia etc), Becky Baldwin on bass (Mercyful Fate, Fury), Karl Brazil on drums and Mike Exeter (producer extraordinaire) is handling the keyboards/orchestrations. As a small cherry on top, we are even treated with a superb guitar solo by none other than Sir Brian May on the jewel that is “Death Wake“.
There are several things I love about this album, and I’ll try to cover them one by one. First of all, Iommi does not play anything that sounds like Black Sabbath. The music is a solid mix of heavy and doom metal of the highest quality that would make many bands pretending to play this style jealous. The album’s overall tempo is mostly slow and gloomy, with Iommi‘s powerful riffs and melodic guitar solos as the backbone of the record, while the other musicians complete the missing gaps with their vision. I am amazed how well and cohesive they all sound, as if they have played together for a very long time.
Jorn Lande is the best choice for vocalist for this album, without a doubt. His powerful, harsh voice, which slightly hints to Dio, Tony Martin or, as I mentioned above, even Dickinson, is the heart which this whole 42 minute story truly needs. Becky‘s bass lines are audible throughout and perfectly support/complement Iommi‘s riffs and Karl‘s exact drumming, while the keyboards create this epic, sombre feeling which lingers over the songs. It’s so rewarding to see how the rhythm changes when you least expect it, like the sudden burst of heaviness and double bass pedals that happens at the 3.45 minute on the second track, “Black Times“. Or how “World Alone“, the first single off the album, rages on with a fast tempo, setting the mood as the perfect opener for an imaginary Iommi concert.
Besides handling the vocals, Jorn also wrote the lyrics and took part in the songwriting, so his involvement was quite deep on this one. I love it that he sings his own lyrics and not just repeats what another might have written for him. And here I want to mention the lyrics, because I absolutely love them. They are not the typical heavy metal lines wrote just to rhyme and sound catchy. They address actual issues that our modern world currently faces like apocalypse (Over a Violent Sun), nuclear war/threat (“Black Days“), death (“Beyond the Dead“), or go into a slight gothic territory, questioning immortality/vampires (“Death Wake“) or even religion. “Legacy” contains something that I think it’s indeed the quitntessence of this album and, why not, of Iommi‘s entire career:
“This is my legacy
I bring you fire
Can’t let my destiny fade or expire
My timeless rhapsody it never landed
The future waits for me, I ̈ll leave it branded“
I mentioned earlier that the digibook has an expanded booklet. It consists of 32 pages, filled with beautiful golden/bronze drawings done by The Creative Corporation, which mirror the dark lyrical themes of this album. It’s an absolute pleasure to read the lyrics and then look at the drawings, trying to find as many similarities between them. I love it when the graphic part is not neglected, as I think it plays an important part of a good record.
Closing this limited edition record are two instrumental bonus tracks, “Scent of Dark” and “Deified“, which have been previously been released as digital singles in 2021 and 2024, as part of a perfume campaign. The line up on these songs is different though, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. I actually think they are a good addition to the album, as they both have the same cinematic feeling and gloomy atmosphere, which is enhanced by the cello and violin on Scent of Dark and the grandiose chorus on Deified. This last song actually could fit very well on the soundtrack of a fantasy/sci fi movie, it has some outstanding vibes.
The last thing I want to mention about the album is the order of the songs. Each of the 8 tracks has its well chosen role and place, as they slowly build a dramatic, ominous crescendo which explodes at the end with the longest track of the album, “Legacy“, which streches a bit over the mark of 7 minutes. The tracks flow smoothly one into another and you don’t even realize when you have arrived at the end. But hen you press play again and discover a new riff or a new vocal line. It’s no wonder that the production is very good, but that helps the songs “breathe” a bit. Yes, they might sound a tad modern because of that, but the style and the music are classic and very old school.
This record has nothing to prove. What Iommi wanted to say, he has said it in so many forms until now. “From the Dark” is actually a legacy, a swan song of one of the inventors of heavy metal. It’s an emotional journey through the dark music he helped create decades ago, which is still relevant and so powerful to this day.
IOMMI – “From The Dark” Track List :
1. Over a Violent Sun
2. Black Times
3. World Alone
4. Beyond the Dead
5. Stormwatcher
6. Death Wake
7. Return of the Arbalist
8. Legacy
9. Scent of Dark
10. Deified
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