TONY IOMMI

Any argument about exactly who invented heavy metal was settled long ago. There is always room for debate about the various records and technological developments that led up to it, but the first riff on the first song from the first BLACK SABBATH album is such an obvious and indisputable starting point for the music we love that any other verdict just seems silly. Tony Iommi is often called "the Godfather Of Heavy Metal", but that almost seems a bit too vague in light of his contribution. His riffs are simply the building blocks that the entire genre has been constructed around, and any failure to acknowledge his vast significance in the grand, metallic scheme of things is liable to get your metal license permanently revoked. Iommi is king. Get it right.

As a solo artist, however, Tony Iommi has rarely had anything to prove. As a result, his efforts to date have ranged from 2000's fascinating but flawed "Iommi", which featured vocals from Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Anselmo, Ian Astbury and many more, to solid but inessential collaborations with Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes. 2005's "Fused" is arguably the most cohesive and focused entry in the catalogue. Another Glenn Hughes team-up, it dared to suggest an alternative musical identity to the established BLACK SABBATH blueprint, but thanks to the permanently looming specter of another SABs reunion, no further musical adventures along those lines were forthcoming. In truth, the most significant reference points for "From The Dark" are the Tony Martin-era of Sabbathand the astonishing music Iommi made as part of HEAVEN AND HELL with Ronnie James Dio by his side. While instinctively steering away from the Ozzy era, these new songs are audibly cut from the same thunderously heavy cloth that the great man has made his own over the last 50-plus years, but with a grandeur and polish that has more in common with the likes of "Children Of The Sea", "Headless Cross" and "Bible Black" than it does with "War Pigs" or "Into The Void". Not, of course, that it matters. This is a TONY IOMMI album. It has colossal, skull-flattening riffs, the darkest of melodies, and vastly more energy and power than we have the right to expect from a man who will celebrate his 79th birthday next year.

It certainly helps that he has assembled a killer band to make his next musical statement. Vocalist Jorn Lande should need no introduction: a certified powerhouse, he was the obvious stand-in for the recently departed Ronnie when HEAVEN AND HELL made their final live appearance, and his voice has never sounded more glorious than it does here. Drummer Karl Brazil may not have the greatest metal pedigree, after high profile tenures with Robbie Williams and James Blunt, but within seconds of the opening "Over The Violent Sun" it is obvious that he has both the know-how and the nuanced ability to provide these songs with the correct amount of rhythmic steel. Throw in MERCYFUL FATE's effervescent bass goddess Becky Baldwin, whose resumé is rapidly becoming unbeatable, and the whole enterprise is impossible to deny, as first single "World Alone" confirmed. "From The Dark" is everything diehard SABBATH fans have been craving since 2013's flawed but eminently lovable "13".

It begins with a riff, just as the gods of metal intended. "Over The Violent Sun" is a thrilling entry point: a brooding, pendulous slab of high-definition doom, with Lande's peerless tones soaring overhead and a rock-solid rhythm section driving the immaculate riffs home. "Black Times" is slower, heavier and more dramatic, with bruised melodies that slither and slide across the slow-motion riff barrage, and a plaintive, life-affirming guitar solo from Iommi himself that emerges from a swirling fog of brutish psychedelia. Next, "World Alone" continues to be an infectious, dark metal uppercut with an irresistible groove, and "Beyond The Dead" is a haunting, midnight mooch through gloomy graveyards, with Lande's theatrical bellow ripping through the tension like a skillfully wielded machete. "Stormwatcher" is pure bliss; another deft collage of prime Iommi riffing, delivered with charismatic glee by the assembled diehards, and nailed to the wall by another extraordinary vocal from Jorn Lande. More exercises in slow and low perfection, "Death Wake" twists the blues to its own fiendish ends, but with exquisite chord sequences that could only have come from one man, and vast, crushing crescendos that erupt like infernal detonations from subterranean crypts. "Return Of The Arbalist" clatters and pounds like a great, lost out-take from "Cross Purposes", but with huge, choking doses of the Devil's DNA woven into its scabrous fabric. Best of all, "Legacy" is a towering, late-in-the-day example of why Tony Iommi is both a guitarist and a songwriter beyond compare. Languorous and fraught with tension, it is also a gorgeous and soulful piece of timeless heaviness, with Jorn Lande scaling the octaves with the ease of a master, and the sound of distant church bells adding an extra layer of sinister intrigue. If you don't throw out a claw or two during its sublime, dynamic heights, you may have walked in through the wrong door.

Say what you like about Tony Iommi: He invented heavy metal, so you can stick your opinions up your lightweight ass. "From The Dark" is an impossibly mighty and magnificent piece of work, played by musicians that feel metal's essence rippling through their veins. Play it as loud as possible and give thanks and praise to the man who started it all. No, The KINKS don't count. Or Jimi Hendrix. Don't be ridiculous. Hail Iommi. Heavy metal forever!