The brand new single from legendary guitarist Tony Iommi is released today.
Titled "Stormwatcher", it rides on a signature guitar riff from the man who was the driving musical force behind BLACK SABBATH's garlanded career.
"Stormwatcher" has a maritime theme, based around a ship stuck in a storm, accompanied by a dramatic animated video, bringing the lyrics and imagery of vocalist Jørn Lande to life.
"It channels something from within, something real," Lande explains, describing how the lyrics tell a powerful story about struggles and sorrow as life voyages from birth to death, and beyond. "We are the captain of our own vessel, a ship crashing through unknown and sometimes challenging waters, always navigating forward, steering steady through every storm, driven by dreams of new horizons and longing for something new."
One of numerous highlights from Iommi's upcoming solo album "From The Dark", "Stormwatcher" perfectly captures the dark atmospheres and yearning passions that permeate the record. Iommi is joined throughout the LP by Lande, who shares writing credits on all songs, as well as bassist Becky Baldwin and drummer Karl Brazil. Co-produced by Tony and Mike Exeter, his longtime creative partner, co-writer, producer and audio engineer, the sound is crystalline, vibrant and enormous, engulfing the listener in a state-of-the-art sonic experience that is as contemporary as it is timeless.
Iommi says: "It's an album we've really enjoyed making. We're not trying to prove anything — it's a great album, it rocks!"
From the opening notes of "Over The Violent Sun", featuring a classic, driving down-tuned guitar riff from Tony Iommi and the dramatic vocal prowess of Jørn Lande, it is clear that "From The Dark" is an outstanding album that can hold its place amongst the impressive Iommi catalog. "Black Times" continues the journey, a sucker-punch strike that takes no prisoners, leading into the barn-storming first single "World Alone", before fourth track "Beyond The Dead" changes the pace, with a stately and sinister riff interwoven with epic orchestration.
The existential questioning of Lande's lyrics, full of dystopian imagery and ruminations on the fleeting nature of the human experience is writ-large throughout the album, especially on "Stormwatcher" with its nautical metaphors and dreams of new horizons. A brilliant centerpoint of this remarkable album, "Stormwatcher" is matched in scope and drama by the subsequent "Death Wake", both music and lyrics combining to create a vivid picture of the cruelties of a life without love and humanity.
"From The Dark"'s closing two songs, the furious passion of "Return Of The Arbalist" and the truly epic kaleidoscope of "Legacy" showcase the power and drama, the light and the shade that courses through the album. Coming a year after BLACK SABBATH's final-ever show, at 2025's "Back To The Beginning" concert in Birmingham, it demonstrates the creative fires that burn ever-brightly in Tony Iommi and is undoubtedly one of the greatest rock albums to be released this year.
"From The Dark" tracklisting:
01. "Over The Violent Sun"
02. "Black Times"
03. "World Alone"
04. "Beyond The Dead"
05. "Stormwatcher"
06. "Death Wake"
07. "Return Of The Arbalist"
08. "Legacy"
09. "Scent Of Dark" (deluxe CD bonus)
10. "Deified" (deluxe CD bonus)
Source: www.PettingZoo.Nl