Tony Iommi - From The Dark

Quick note first: this is not a heavy underground record. But every band on this site exists because of Tony Iommi, so when he puts out his first solo album in 21 years, it gets covered here. Call it the godfather exception.

From The Dark came out October 23 on BMG, his first solo record since Fused in 2005. Jorn Lande sings the whole thing and co-wrote all eight songs. Becky Baldwin plays bass, Karl Brazil plays drums, and Brian May adds a guest solo on Death Wake.

There is no breakout song on it, and that is fine. What it has is good songs all the way through, and the whole record is a good listen start to finish. The songwriting does not sit in a simple repetitive loop. There is a progressive side to how the songs are put together, some of it leaning into doom, some of it leaning into sludge, all of it metal.

For me, the production is what grabs me. Mike Exeter and Andy Sneap mixed it, and the sound is great all the way through. The guitar tone is great, and there is an unpredictable streak in Iommi's playing that keeps the songs moving. Jorn's vocals sound great too. He changes the tone and the character of his voice from song to song, and it fits every one of them.

I have played it a few times now and I keep going back to it. No filler, no coasting. A really great album, and a surprise how much I am enjoying the sound of it.