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With Ozzy gone and Geezer and Bill all but retired, it falls to Tony Iommi to keep the flame of Black Sabbath burning. On this album, in tandem with Norwegian singer Jørn Lande, he does so in the style of the Ronnie James Dio-fronted lineup and the subsequent Heaven & Hell. Is it as good? Mostly, yes. More importantly, the unmistakable sound of That Guitar and the bludgeon of Those Riffs can only mean that the fire still blazes.
Lande is an impressive partner, co-writing all eight songs with Iommi – even if his lyrics are sometimes more metal-by-numbers than the much-loved existential musings of Terence Michael Joseph Butler. The vocals, though, are arresting and occasionally uncannily like David Coverdale’s, echoing Lande’s work in Whitesnake spin-off outfit The Snakes three decades ago. Behind the frontmen, the Brummie rhythm section of bassist Becky Baldwin (latterly of Mercyful Fate) and drummer Karl Brazil (James Blunt, Robbie Williams etc) are mighty.
There are occasional keyboards and orchestrations by Iommi’s trusted producer Mike Exeter (who has worked with the guitarist since the release of the DEP Sessions, engineered The Dio Years compilation and also has writing credits), but really, and with the greatest respect to all the other talent involved, all you need to know about From The Dark is that Tony Iommi plays guitar.
We hear him first on Over The Violent Sun, a hammer-to-the-anvil opener if ever there was one. Next, on Black Times, he slows things down, then on World Alone – the first single – he delivers a brutal boogie that is the closest this album gets to upbeat. Beyond The Dead goes back to the charnel house, conjuring images of evil fogs at a marvellously funereal tempo. Then comes Stormwatcher, which ups the pace nicely as it chugs through an impressive soundscape on a superior riff. Great solo, too.
Death Wake, featuring a lead break by Iommi’s old mate Brian May, boasts superbly syncopated riffage as it rises and falls. Next is Return Of The Arbalist, a suitably gothic paean to medieval siege weapons, which once again stomps on the ‘loud and fast’ pedal.
The Deluxe CD adds instrumentals Scent Of Dark and Deified (from Iommi’s fragrances side project), but the greatest treat here is designated album closer Legacy. Mixing a mournful bridge with Stargazer-like lyrics, an electric solo and, briefly, Spanish guitar, it’s absolute killer, gold-standard Iommi. All rejoice and draw ever closer to the flames.
