Tony Iommi Conjures a Doom-Metal Storm in New 'Stormwatcher' Video

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has released a new video for "Stormwatcher," a doom-laden track from his upcoming solo album, From the Dark, due out Oct. 23.

The clip, rendered in black and white in the style of a woodcut, animates the song's narrative of a man stranded at sea. A lone rat is his only companion in the boat as he reflects on how he arrived there. The situation deteriorates from there. Swarms of rats and an angry sea become the man's antagonists, turning the mariner's reverie into a siege.

Vocalist Jørn Lande, who sings on the track, described the lyrics in a statement as an expression of perseverance through turmoil. "It channels something from within, something real," Lande said. "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."

The song is one of the doomier offerings on the album, built on Iommi's characteristically tempestuous riffage.

"Stormwatcher" follows "World Alone," the first single from From the Dark. Speaking to Rolling Stone around that single's release, Iommi said he has embraced making new music as a solo artist after closing the chapter on Black Sabbath with the Back to the Beginning concert, Ozzy Osbourne's final performance.

"I'm not into just retiring and sitting back and doing nothing," the guitarist said. "I have to do something, and music is the only thing I know what to do. I like creating it. I think it's good for your mind, as well, to be able to make things up and come up with ideas."

With From the Dark arriving Oct. 23, the 77-year-old architect of heavy metal's foundational sound is wagering that his creative instinct outlasts the band that made him famous.