the new single is an epic instrumental track that is distinctively Iommi. From the doom-laden intro, the harmonic leads and the crushing riff, there is no mistaking the distinctive style that has sold over a hundred million albums worldwide and created a paradigm shift in the world of rock.
‘Scent Of Dark’ is inspired by and the product of a recent friendship struck up during the pandemic between Iommi and Sergio Momo, acclaimed perfumer, and designer for Italian luxury perfume house Xerjoff, well known for its unique and individual creations and collaborations in the fragrance world. Sergio is also an accomplished guitarist, and his fine fretwork can be heard on ‘Scent Of Dark’.
Whilst the realm of high-end fragrancies and the uncompromising heavy music that Iommi is known for might not at first seem to make viable bedfellows, the guitarists interests in fragrances actually stretches far back to the early days of Black Sabbath.
“It’s something I’ve always been interested in, ever since the early days of products like Brut and Old Spice, which I’d always get given for Christmas,” remembers Tony. “Once I started touring the world with Sabbath though, I started discovering different sorts of fragrancies from other countries and began collecting them on tour.
“I met Sergio through another friend of mine Jimmy Crutchley (who plays bass on ‘Scent Of Dark’) and Sergio kindly sent me a box of his fragrances and asked if I’d be interested in creating my own, which I certainly wasn’t expecting,” laughs Iommi. “I had no idea how that would work, but Sergio suggested I come up with a list of things I like the smell of, which I did. He developed some different samples made up from my suggestions and I picked the one I liked; the project moved forward from there.”
Tony brought in the aromatic reminiscence of rock in the 60s and 70s, festivals and gatherings, amber and patchouli. The final result harmoniously characteries the dark sound of Iommi’s original famous ‘64 Monkey Special’ guitar with the spicy and seductive scents.
“Sergio is a really creative chap, he plays great guitar on ‘Scent Of Dark’ and has one of my collectable models, the 64 Gibson with the cartoon monkey image. He said it would be great to incorporate that, and he’s even managed to get it onto one of the bottles!”
From the start, Tony has been instrumental in creating the ‘Scent Of Dark’ fragrance. “I wouldn’t put my name to something that I haven’t been involved in and didn’t personally like or use,” he explains. “That’s been the same with all of the projects I’ve done from guitars onwards, this is no different.”
Purchase ‘Scent of Dark‘ fragrance here.
‘Scent Of Dark’ features the following musicians.
Tony Iommi – Guitar
Sergio Momo – Guitar
Jimmy Crutchley – Bass
Ash Sheehan – Drums
Rebecca Rose – Cello
Julianne Bourne – Violin
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2021
