The Godfather of Heavy Metal is back — and he’s brought a sack full of monstrous riffs with him

Sound the alarms. Lock up the light fittings. Warn the neighbours.

Tony bloody Iommi is back. 🤘🔥

The legendary Black Sabbath guitarist and undisputed architect of the heavy metal riff has announced his long-awaited new solo album, From The Dark, arriving on Friday 23 October 2026 through BMG.

It will be Iommi’s first solo studio album in 21 years, following the release of Fused in 2005 — and judging by the thunderous first single, ‘World Alone’, the great man hasn’t spent those two decades knitting scarves and watching daytime telly.

He’s been stockpiling riffs.

Dark ones. Heavy ones. Proper window-rattling, floorboard-disturbing riffs.

And now they’re coming for us all.

🎸 THE RIFF LORD RIDES AGAIN

There are guitarists, there are guitar heroes, and then there is Tony Iommi.

This is the man whose down-tuned guitar sound helped create the blueprint for heavy metal. Without Iommi, the entire musical landscape would look very different.

Doom metal, stoner rock, sludge, thrash, grunge and countless other heavy genres all carry at least a little bit of his musical DNA. Every time a guitarist plugs into an enormous amplifier, tunes down and unleashes a riff that sounds like a factory collapsing into hell, somewhere in Birmingham Tony Iommi probably smiles.

Now, more than two decades after his last solo record, Iommi is stepping back into the spotlight with an album that promises to honour his colossal legacy without simply recycling the past.

Speaking about the record, Iommi said:

“It’s an album we’ve really enjoyed making. We’re not trying to prove anything — it’s a great album, it rocks!”

That might be the most Tony Iommi statement imaginable.

No waffle. No grand speech. No ten-page artistic manifesto involving the moon cycle and a haunted woodland retreat.

It rocks.

Job done, mun.

🔥 ‘WORLD ALONE’ KICKS THE DOOR OFF ITS HINGES

The album announcement arrives alongside its first single, ‘World Alone’, a full-throttle blast of classic heavy metal powered by Iommi’s unmistakable guitar work.

The song charges forward on a barrage of massive riffs, screaming guitar solos and a rhythm section that sounds like it has been built from industrial machinery.

On vocals is acclaimed Norwegian powerhouse Jørn Lande, whose dramatic delivery brings a huge, theatrical presence to the track.

Lande doesn’t merely sing over the music. He battles it.

His soaring voice rises above Iommi’s wall of guitars like a warrior shouting from the top of a burning mountain while the apocalypse unfolds below.

Subtle? Not remotely.

Glorious? Absolutely.

The accompanying video throws listeners into a retro-futuristic dystopian universe, following a character known as The Believer, who becomes trapped inside a twisted video game where survival and salvation hang in the balance.

It’s bleak, futuristic and slightly unhinged — basically perfect territory for a Tony Iommi song.

🎤 WHO JOINS TONY IOMMI ON

FROM THE DARK

?

Tony Iommi is joined throughout the album by an extremely tasty collection of musicians.

The

From The Dark

line-up:

  • 🎸 Tony Iommi — guitars
  • 🎤 Jørn Lande — vocals
  • 🎸 Becky Baldwin — bass
  • 🥁 Karl Brazil — drums

Jørn Lande shares writing credits across the album, bringing his unmistakable operatic rock vocals and dramatic lyrical style to all eight tracks.

On bass is Becky Baldwin, known for her work with Fury and Mercyful Fate. She brings serious low-end firepower to an album that was never exactly going to be short on heaviness.

Behind the drum kit is Karl Brazil, whose crushing playing gives Iommi’s riffs the enormous rhythmic foundation they deserve.

The album has been co-produced by Iommi and his long-time collaborator Mike Exeter, who has previously worked closely with the guitarist as a producer, engineer and creative partner.

The result is said to be a huge, contemporary production that keeps Iommi’s signature darkness intact while giving the record enough modern power to flatten anyone foolish enough to stand in front of the speakers.

🌑 FROM THE OPENING RIFF TO THE FINAL NOTE

From The Dark contains eight songs, beginning with ‘Over The Violent Sun’.

The opening track reportedly wastes no time delivering one of those classic Iommi down-tuned riffs — the sort of sound that crawls out of the speakers, steals your pint and declares itself ruler of the living room.

Next comes ‘Black Times’, a forceful, no-nonsense heavy metal punch before the album launches into lead single ‘World Alone’.

Fourth track ‘Beyond The Dead’ is expected to change the pace with a slower, more sinister riff accompanied by epic orchestration.

The album’s darker themes continue through ‘Stormwatcher’ and ‘Death Wake’, with Lande’s lyrics exploring dystopian imagery, mortality, isolation and humanity’s increasingly uncertain future.

Cheery stuff, then.

But let’s be honest — nobody purchases a Tony Iommi album expecting twelve tracks about sunshine, puppies and getting a bargain sausage roll.

The record closes with ‘Return Of The Arbalist’ and the appropriately titled ‘Legacy’, two songs said to showcase the album’s combination of power, drama, darkness and occasional flashes of light.

And when your surname is Iommi, calling a song ‘Legacy’ carries a fair bit of weight.

📀

FROM THE DARK

TRACK LIST

  1. Over The Violent Sun
  2. Black Times
  3. World Alone
  4. Beyond The Dead
  5. Stormwatcher
  6. Death Wake
  7. Return Of The Arbalist
  8. Legacy

Deluxe CD bonus tracks:

  1. Scent Of Dark
  2. Deified

The bonus tracks may already be familiar to dedicated Iommi followers.

‘Scent Of Dark’ originally arrived in 2021 alongside Iommi’s fragrance of the same name, while the crushing instrumental ‘Deified’ followed in 2024.

Yes, Tony Iommi once released a song alongside a luxury perfume.

That is the sort of magnificent rock-star behaviour we simply don’t see enough of anymore.

💿 VINYL COLLECTORS, PREPARE YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS

From The Dark will be released across several physical formats, including multiple vinyl editions, deluxe CDs and digital versions.

The double-vinyl edition will be cut at 45rpm to offer increased dynamic range and will arrive inside a premium die-cut gatefold sleeve featuring Iommi’s signature cross.

The packaging reveals more of the album’s artwork as the inner sleeve is removed — a properly dark and dramatic presentation worthy of the man himself.

Confirmed editions include:

  • Double black vinyl
  • ‘Monkey’ red and black marble vinyl
  • ‘New Boy’ white and black marble vinyl
  • ‘Eyeglass’ transparent blue vinyl
  • Deluxe CD media book with a 32-page booklet and two bonus tracks
  • Amazon-exclusive CD digisleeve
  • Standard CD digisleeve
  • Digital edition

There will also be a limited-edition seven-inch single of ‘World Alone’, backed by an exclusive instrumental version.

That release is due on 4 September 2026 and will come housed in a deluxe foiled sleeve.

Collectors are going to be hovering over the pre-order button like festival-goers waiting for the arena gates to open.

🖤 21 YEARS BETWEEN SOLO ALBUMS

Tony Iommi released his self-titled debut solo album, Iommi, in 2000.

That record featured an extraordinary collection of guest vocalists and musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Grohl, Billy Corgan, Phil Anselmo, Serj Tankian, Ian Astbury, Peter Steele and Skin.

Five years later came Fused, created alongside former Black Sabbath vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes and drummer Kenny Aronoff.

Since then, Iommi has remained active through Black Sabbath reunions, archive projects, special collaborations, standalone singles and the final Black Sabbath performance at Birmingham’s Villa Park in 2025.

But a full Tony Iommi solo album has remained one of heavy metal’s biggest unfinished stories.

Until now.

The arrival of From The Dark feels like far more than another album release. It is a genuine event involving one of the most important musicians in the history of rock music.

🤘 THE RIFF REPORT SAYS…

Let’s not mess about here.

Tony Iommi is not merely returning to heavy metal.

Tony Iommi is heavy metal.

His riffs helped build the entire genre from the ground up. His playing turned darkness, industrial noise and working-class Birmingham grit into something revolutionary.

More than half a century later, bands are still borrowing from the musical language he helped invent.

The fact that Iommi is still writing, recording and searching for new sounds is something worth celebrating.

He doesn’t need to prove anything.

The legacy is already carved into stone.

But judging by ‘World Alone’, From The Dark isn’t going to be some gentle victory lap or dusty museum piece. It sounds alive, enormous and genuinely hungry.

Twenty-one years is one hell of a wait.

But the darkness is opening again, the amps are glowing, and the greatest riff merchant the world has ever known is stepping back through the smoke.

Welcome back, Tony.

South Wales will be cranking this one loud enough for Birmingham to hear us. 🌑🤘🔥

📅 RELEASE INFORMATION

Album: From The Dark
Artist: Tony Iommi
Release date: Friday 23 October 2026
Record label: BMG
First single: ‘World Alone’
Limited seven-inch single: 4 September 2026

Are you excited for Tony Iommi’s first solo album in 21 years? Have you already blasted ‘World Alone’, or are you waiting for the full record to drop?

Let us know what you reckon.

Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Zero Apologies. 🤘