- Country: United Kingdom
- Style: Heavy metal / Doom metal
- Label: BMG
- Release date: 23 October 2026
Twenty-one years. That is how long it has been since Fused, the record Tony Iommi made with Glenn Hughes in 2005. Since then the man who more or less invented the heavy metal riff has closed the book on Black Sabbath, released the odd standalone track, and mostly let his legacy speak for him. From The Dark is his answer to anyone who assumed the story was finished.
This time he has chosen a band, not a revolving cast of guests. Jørn Lande sings every song and shares the writing credits throughout. Becky Baldwin plays bass, Karl Brazil plays drums, and Mike Exeter, Iommi’s long-time engineer and co-writer, co-produces with him. That consistency matters. The album sounds like one group working towards one result, not a solo star surrounded by session players.
Anyone hoping for the swampy menace of 1970 should adjust expectations. Iommi’s down-tuned tone is all over it, but the frame around it owes more to the Dio and Tony Martin eras: big choruses, a singer with real range, and a polished, widescreen mix. Lande is the right choice for that approach. His voice suits the grand, slightly theatrical side of Iommi’s writing, and he never tries to impersonate anyone who stood at that microphone before him.
“Over The Violent Sun” opens slowly and heavily, the kind of patient riff Iommi has built a career on. “Stormwatcher”, the second single, is where Lande gets his biggest moment, and “Return Of The Arbalist” carries a strong whiff of the mid-nineties Sabbath records that never got the attention they deserved. “World Alone”, the first single, is the most direct track here and was a sensible way to announce the album.
The real prize comes at the end. “Legacy” is the most carefully built song on the record, all slow tension and release, and with that title it is hard not to hear it as a statement. The first reviews have been warm, and the reasons are easy to understand. There is no gimmick here and no desperate attempt to sound young, just a riff master in his late seventies still writing riffs worth hearing. The deluxe CD adds “Scent Of Dark” and “Deified”, but the eight-song main album is the place to start.
Best tracks:
Legacy
Stormwatcher
Over The Violent Sun
Return Of The Arbalist
Author’s rating: 8.5/10
Gave it 5 stars
No member has given this album 5 stars yet. Join WeMetalheads and rate it.
