Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been in no rush on his next solo record. In a new chat with Brent Porche of Philadelphia’s 93.3 WMMR, he discussed From The Dark, which lands Friday, Oct. 23 via BMG. Asked when the idea first took shape, Iommi said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), “Well, I’ve been busy doing a lot of other stuff, of course, when we were doing the Sabbath thing, and I’ve done a couple of other projects. And so I thought, well, yeah, it’d be nice to do another solo album. It’s been 21 years. [Laughs] So, yeah, I’ve enjoyed it, and I’ve taken me time doing it.
“Like, when we do a Sabbath album, it’s always you’ve got a certain time to do it, then you’ve gotta record it, and then you’re touring. In this case, there’s no pressure. I’ve been able to do it when I want. I’ve got my own studio here [at home]. So I just come over and I start working on putting ideas down.”
Jorn Lande appears throughout From The Dark and shares writing credits on every song. Bassist Becky Baldwin and drummer Karl Brazil round out the lineup. Iommi co-produced the record with Mike Exeter, his longtime writing partner, producer and engineer.
On the album title, Iommi said, “It’s the mood of it, really. Jorn came up with all the lyrical side of it. So, I’d done all the music. But From The Dark seemed like an appropriate title for the album.”
Asked what about Lande‘s voice stayed with him over the years and made him think, “He’s the guy I want for this album,” Iommi said, “Well, Jorn did some work with us on the [Ronnie James] Dio [tribute]. Once Ronnie passed, we’d done a Dio tribute in London for him. And we had Jorn sing two or three of the Sabbath songs, and (legendary Deep Purple bassist/vocalist) Glenn Hughes.
“So, I like Jorn‘s voice. He’s a nice guy as well — good to get on with. And it just seemed ideal. It sort of goes with what I play, and I like that idea.”
On how he wrote the material, Iommi said, “Well, I think it’s more or less the same way as I’ve always written. I put ideas down, and then when we got Jorn in, ’cause Jorn lives in Sweden, so we flew him in and then played him some of the ideas and then adjust them as we went on. I might change the verse part or we might put a new chorus bit in. And it was same as I’ve done everything else in the past. Same idea.”
As for how far back the ideas go, Iommi said, “Well, how this started, really, was I started doing an instrumental. I was gonna do an instrumental album, so I put about four or five tracks down instrumentally. And then I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I think I’d like to do an album with a vocalist.’ So I put them on one side and then started writing riffs for a vocalist. And that’s how it sort of started, really. And it’s gone on.
“I haven’t… The good thing about this album, there’s been no pressure. I haven’t had to go out on tour. I haven’t had to have it done by a certain time. So I was allowed to be able to take my time on it and live with some of the ideas.
“So what I’d do, I’d say to Mike Exeter, who’s been with me for, like, 30 years, I’d say, ‘Let’s work on a Monday and Tuesday,’ ’cause he’s obviously producing other things. And so we always used to put Monday and Tuesday on the side every week, and then if something cropped up, we wouldn’t work, if he’s busy or I’m busy or doing something else. So we’d work around each other, and then just come in and start putting ideas down. So it was all very casual.”
Collectors get plenty of options. From The Dark arrives in several deluxe vinyl and CD formats, including a double LP pressed in four colors, each sold through different retailers. It is cut at 45rpm for better dynamic range and comes in a black card gatefold with a die-cut of Iommi‘s signature cross, which reveals a dark illustrated journey as the inner sleeve slides out. An Amazon exclusive CD uses the same die-cut sleeve, and a deluxe 32-page CD media book edition adds two bonus tracks.
Iommi is widely considered one of the most influential guitarists in modern music. As the founding member and main composer of Black Sabbath, he is credited with helping shape the sound and vocabulary of heavy metal.
His résumé includes multiple Grammy Awards, a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction, and academic honors in the U.K., among them a doctorate from Coventry University, a Lord Mayor’s Award and the Freedom Of The City of Birmingham. In June 2026, he received an MBE, one of the highest honors in British public life.
As a young man, Iommi survived an industrial accident that cost him the tips of two fingers. That injury pushed him toward a distinctive playing style and the heavier, darker guitar tone that defined Black Sabbath. With Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, the band released groundbreaking albums throughout the 1970s and became one of Britain’s most culturally significant exports.
Over six decades, Iommi has kept recording, performing and collaborating around the world. He worked extensively with the late Ronnie James Dio, released well-received solo material, and reunited with the original Black Sabbathlineup for the chart-topping 2013 album 13 and the farewell tour The End (2016 to 2017), which drew 1.6 million fans.
More recently, he branched into other cultural territory. In 2023, he teamed with the Birmingham Royal Ballet on Black Sabbath – The Ballet, a production built on his early compositions. Black Sabbath also headlined the 2025 show Back To The Beginning in Birmingham, a look back at the band’s origins and a poignant farewell to fans that took place just weeks before the death of Osbourne.
The post TONY IOMMI Skips The Studio Pressure On Solo Return: “I’ve been able to do it when I want” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.
