RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesTony Iommi on New Solo Album, Missing Ozzy Osbourne, and How He's Not Going Anywhere In his first interview since Ozzy's death, the Black Sabbath guitarist also previews "World Alone" from the new solo album he's releasing this fall By Kory Grow
Sometimes Tony Iommi needs to remind himself to write songs that sound a little more upbeat. "I tend to always start off with the doomy stuff," the former Black Sabbath guitarist says with a chuckle on a phone call from his home in England. "It always has been that way. I just get absorbed with doomy riffs. It's a feeling I get when I play something heavy and powerful. I still like the up-tempo stuff, of course, though."
"World Alone," the first single off From the Dark , Iommi's upcoming solo album — his first in more than two decades, due Oct. 23 — is decidedly up-tempo. But it's still heavy. The song finds the guitarist, 78, playing a walloping riff and a snarling solo, recalling Black Sabbath's cutting Mob Rules album but with a unique, modern twist thanks to vocalist Jørn Lande's gutsy wailing and apocalyptic lyrics. The song and the seven others on the album, which only sound heavier and more menacing, show how Iommi is doing his own thing apart from Black Sabbath's legacy but still staying within the doomy world of sound he began constructing nearly 60 years ago.
Over the past year, ever since Black Sabbath played their final gig at Ozzy Osbourne 's farewell concert , Back to the Beginning, Iommi has kept a mostly low profile. That's because he's been fine-tuning ideas he'd been honing for at least half a decade. The seeds for the album sprang from two instrumental songs, 2021's "Scent of Dark" and 2024's "Deified," that he recorded to release along with his own designer perfume. As the songs came together, he felt like he wanted a proper, well-rounded band backing him for this outing.
His first solo album was 2000's Iommi , if you don't count 1986's Seventh Star , which was a solo album that Black Sabbath's record label credited to the band, or the string of Sabbath albums on which Iommi was the only original member. The Iommi album featured singers such as Billy Corgan and Henry Rollins and various backing musicians on each track, while The 1996 DEP Sessions (2004) and Fused (2005) both featured former Deep Purple frontman Glenn Hughes singing. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century
For From the Dark , which Iommi co-produced with his longtime collaborator and engineer Mike Exeter, the guitarist opted for musicians who aren't household names. In addition to Lande, the dramatically expressive Norwegian vocalist whose credits include albums with Masterplan and Ark, From the Dark features bassist Becky Baldwin and drummer Karl Brazil; Exeter plays keys. Queen guitarist Brian May plays a guest solo on the doomy "Death Wake." Other standouts include "Legacy" and "Stormwatcher," which bear Iommi's signature dusky sounds.
The guitarist announced the album on Wednesday at a livestreamed event in his hometown of Birmingham, England, where he debuted the movie-like video for "World Alone," but Rolling Stone spoke to him earlier in July about how it came together and all that has happened since Back to the Beginning.
Why was it important for you to do a solo album and not call it "Black Sabbath"? Well, Black Sabbath's now finished as far as the band goes, really. Obviously, the last stuff was with Ozz. Anything I'd do with Black Sabbath would just be me, and I don't want to do that again. We've been there and done that.
How did you connect with vocalist Jørn Lande for this album? We've worked with him before. When we'd done the Dio tribute after Ronnie passed away, we had Jørn come and sing a couple of songs with us at the tribute, and I really liked his voice. So, I thought, "Well, I'd like to use him." I liked his voice. I mean, you could go and pick some named people, but I've done that.
How did "World Alone" come together? I tend to go right into all the doomy stuff, and I thought, "Well, we could do something with an up-tempo riff, as well." When I'd done that, and then I heard the melody he'd done, it all worked. Related Content Sharon Osbourne Reveals Advice Ozzy Gave Her to Remember Him Black Sabbath Bandmates Remember Ozzy Osbourne on Death Anniversary: ‘His Legend Lives On’ Ozzy Osbourne’s Hometown of Birmingham to Honor Singer on Anniversary of Death If You See Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward in a Wheelchair, You Should Smile at Him: ‘I’m OK’
What was the idea behind the video? I didn't want to do a video with all the band. I didn't even really, to be honest, want to do a video. But they did it. It's sort of like a movie, really. And I appear a couple of times standing there playing. But I just didn't want to go the old route of all the bands standing there playing and doing one of them. That's been done a hundred times.
I'm not really into doing videos myself anyway because I always look … I'm boring. I'm just standing there playing. Nothing else I can do. I can't jump around or leap around or anything. I'm too old for that [ laughs ]. But I think the guys that made it did a good job.
Did you give Jørn any direction for the lyrics at all for the album? No, I didn't give him any lyrical ideas at all. With a singer, it's good if they can do their own stuff because when they've got to sing it, they can put it over better. It's like with Ronnie — when he used to write the lyrics, there's certain words that he could really get powerful on. And I think it's the same with Jørn.
Some of his lyrics describe nuclear apocalypses. What strikes you when you listened to them? My first thought was, "God, this is really sort of heavy, but it's things that's happening." It's what's happening today in the world, really. Much like with the old Sabbath stuff, when we did "War Pi...
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