Tony Iommi Unleashes ‘Stormwatcher’ From Solo Album ‘From the Dark’

THE DROP

Tony Iommi dropped "Stormwatcher" on September 30, the second single from "From The Dark", his first solo album in 21 years ^*§. It almost did not have vocals at all: Iommi started the record as an instrumental before deciding he wanted a singer ^§.

WHAT TO KNOW

• Album lands October 23 via BMG, Iommi's third solo record after "Iommi" (2000) and "Fused" (2005) ^*§.
• Jorn Lande sings everything, wrote all lyrics and vocal melodies, and shares writing credit on every track ^§**.
• Band is Becky Baldwin (Mercyful Fate) on bass and Karl Brazil on drums, with Mike Exeter co-producing ^§**.
• Metal Injection calls the song melancholic, with a solo that is mournful instead of aggressive ^†.
• Lande on the lyrics: "It channels something from within, something real" ^**. Animated video directed by Daniel Gray ^¶.

THE TAKE

A grieving-sounding Iommi solo in the year after Sabbath's last show and Ozzy's death is not subtle, and it does not need to be ^*. Iommi says they were not trying to prove anything, which is the most believable thing a man with four hundred unused riffs on his phone could say ^*. The real test is Lande: eight songs where he wrote every word is a lot of weight on a voice Iommi has only shared a stage with once, back in 2010 ^*§.