Tony Iommi Launches From The Dark At The Actress & Bishop

The arrival of Tony Iommi for his Birmingham press conference at The Actress & Bishop felt more like an entrance from a film than a music launch. Iommi was here to announce the release of his new solo album From The Dark, due 23 October 2026 via BMG, and share the first single World Alone.

Frank Skinner had already warmed the room, playing master of ceremonies with the kind of dry mischief only he can get away with.

Skinner asked the audience for “the welcome Tony Iommi deserves,” and the crowd obliged, erupting into applause as Iommi stepped through a heavy steel door that looked like the entrance to a cell. The cheers rolled across the room, and Skinner, delighted, jokingly introduced him as “the new James Bond,” before adding a jab about Iommi’s MBE and how Skinner had his first “before they were mass produced.”

Skinner began by asking the obvious question. Why now? More than twenty years had passed since Iommi’s last solo work. Iommi did not hesitate. “Why not?” he said, with a shrug that suggested the answer had always been that simple.

He checked in with producer Mike Exeter, who confirmed the record had quietly been in development for two years, worked on casually whenever inspiration struck.

The contrast with the early Black Sabbath days was stark. Iommi recalled being told the band needed one more track to fill the album that would eventually feature Paranoid. They had two and a half minutes to fill, and he had to come up with something on the spot while the rest of the band were at lunch.

The memory highlighted how different the pace had been then, fast and reactive compared to the slow, deliberate unfolding of this new project.

Tony Iommi explained that From The Dark had largely been created remotely. The press conference marked the first time all four musicians involved had been in the same room together. When Skinner invited them to stand, the three other band members rose to applause, Becky Baldwin on bass, Karl Brazil on drums, and Jorn Lande, the vocalist whose presence immediately caught Skinner’s eye.

Skinner took in Jorn’s stature, the long hair, the unmistakable Scandinavian aura, and could not resist. “It feels like some sort of Nordic saga,” he said, laughing. “A Viking spirit.” The moment created a natural segue into the album’s dramatic, widescreen feel.

Skinner began talking about the scale of the new album, its drama, its sweep, its almost mythic atmosphere. He described the music as “big, dynamic… almost like a Nordic saga,” a comment that made Iommi laugh but did not entirely miss the mark. The songs have a cinematic weight, shaped by the freedom of working without deadlines or external pressure.

Iommi explained that this time, ideas were allowed to breathe. Riffs shifted, melodies evolved, and sessions stretched across borders, with ideas bouncing back and forth until they found their shape. He described the experience as a chance to “live with the tracks,” something he rarely had in the past.

That sense of ease extended to the recording process. Sessions often began with a simple idea, then returned days later with a new twist, a fresh riff, or a different direction. Even mistakes became part of the rhythm, a natural part of the back-and-forth that shaped the record.

The conversation soon turned to Birmingham, the city that shaped them both. Iommi confirmed he still lives there, and the new project carries a strong sense of local pride. “The whole thing is designed around Birmingham,” he said, noting that even the merchandise was made in the city, reflecting on how deeply Birmingham runs through his story.

That led naturally to the industrial accident that cost Iommi the tips of two fingers, a story Skinner called “quintessentially Birmingham” for its mix of hardship and ingenuity. Iommi retold the moment plainly. Doctors told him to give up playing, but he refused. He melted down a Fairy Liquid bottle, shaped it into a crude prosthetic, sanded it for weeks, and eventually cut up a leather jacket to create a grip that mimicked skin.

“I’ve still got a piece of that jacket,” Iommi said. Skinner loved the make-do spirit, the working-class resilience he grew up around.

From The Dark began as an instrumental project, inspired partly by acoustic sketches and incidental music created for a perfume collaboration. He had said, in August 2025 at the Gibson Garage London, that he was working with a singer.

Skinner teased Tony Iommi about Heavy Metal musicians smelling lovely, but Iommi explained that the project had been surprisingly creative, even leading to a video commissioned by the perfume company. He also confirmed his involvement in an upcoming Gibson TV mini-series titled The Godfather Of Heavy Metal, though he seemed amused by the title and slightly embarrassed by the praise.

Skinner eventually asked the inevitable question. Would the new music ever be performed live?

Iommi did not rule anything out. “Whatever comes up and you think that’s a good idea, I’ll do it,” he said, acknowledging the growing trend of artist residencies and hinting that Birmingham would be a natural home for any future performances.

One of the afternoon’s biggest surprises came when Skinner revealed that Iommi had once written a Eurovision entry for Armenia. Iommi explained that the project grew out of charity work following a disaster in the country, where he helped establish a music school and collaborated with musicians including Jon Lord, Nicko McBrain and members of Metallica.

Armenia later asked him to compose their Eurovision song, which was recorded by a local band. They even wanted him to appear on stage, an idea he found both flattering and faintly absurd.

The conversation closed with Skinner reflecting on Iommi’s reputation as the dependable centre of Black Sabbath, the player-manager figure who kept everything steady. Then, with perfect comic timing, he added, “And then there was the time you set Bill Ward on fire.” Iommi grinned. “We had a little party, piece,” he said, as laughter filled the room.

As the laughter settled, Skinner shifted the tone with a gentler kind of admiration. He spoke about how inspirational it was to see Iommi still producing music of such scale and quality at this stage of his career, not out of obligation or nostalgia, but from the same instinctive creativity that had driven him from the beginning.

The new album, From The Dark, feels like proof of that. Ambitious, atmospheric, and unmistakably Iommi, the record carries the weight of experience without ever sounding like a man looking backwards.

Skinner let the moment breathe, then introduced the lead single, World Alone. As the lights dipped, a video began to play on the screen behind them. The opening shot showed a package being passed through a heavy steel door, and the audience immediately recognised the door as the same one Iommi had stepped through at the start of the event.

A ripple of amusement moved across the room as the connection landed, the video echoing his entrance and folding the launch back on itself with a subtle wink.

The first notes of World Alone filled the space, heavy and widescreen, and Iommi watched with the calm pride of someone who has spent a lifetime shaping sound. Skinner leaned back in his chair, satisfied, as the music rolled out across the room, carrying a clear sense that this new chapter is not a return, but an evolution.

When the video faded out, Skinner thanked the room and thanked Iommi. The audience erupted in a loud, generous cheer for the new song, the video, and for Iommi himself. He stood, waved, and left the stage to thunderous applause, disappearing once again through the same steel door that had framed his entrance.

The moment created a fitting end to an afternoon that celebrated not just a new album, but the enduring presence of one of Birmingham’s, and Heavy Metal’s, defining figures.

Tony Iommi will release From The Dark on 23 October 2026. Further information is available at Iommi.com. Pre-orders are available at tonyiommi.lnk.to/fromthedarkPR.

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