Black Sabbath legend Tonz Iommi recently guested on BBC|s The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker and named Queen guitarist Brian May as his personal Rock God.

Iommi: "His sort of sound and style really stood out to me when I heard the first Queen album, really. When I heard that album, I thought 'This is a really good band.' And a guitar player is always into other guitar players, and he had a sort of unique sound and the way that he played. I just liked it; it was appealing. He's just got a certain character that you didn't really hear from anybody else; he's got something very 'him.' And as soon as you hear Brian now, anybody can pick him out.

It was in the early '70s we first met. We had a very fast connection and we used to talk to each other at all hours of the night in the early days. We've jammed a few times. He's come up on stage and played with me and we've done some album stuff together on different people's albums. He played on my solo album a couple of times. So, we've had a great friendship over the years. But the thing is with him, he loves his guitar. He's always got his guitar with him and he's playing, and when he comes to my house, I've always got a guitar there for him so we can have a little play."

Introducing "Scent Of Dark", a fusion of new Tony Iommi music, video and unique fragrance blended by Xerjoff’s Sergio Momo with major input from Tony.

When Iommi decided to develop his own perfume, he already knew how some Black Sabbath fans would react. “They’ll think I’ve gone mad,” he tells Rolling Stone, laughing, on a call from his home in England. “It’s something I would’ve never thought of involving myself in. But it’s been nice to be involved in it.”

Last year, when the world was on Covid lockdown, Iommi befriended Sergio Momo, the founder and creative manager of the Italian perfumier Xerjoff, after Momo asked the guitarist to play on a charity track. Unfortunately, Iommi couldn’t do it at the time, but Momo nevertheless sent him a box of perfumes as a thank you for considering it. Iommi phoned him up to say thanks and eventually Momo asked, “Would you be interested in doing your own perfume?” “I went, ‘Oh, that’s amazing,’ ” Iommi says. “I had to write down all the different smells that I like, and then he built perfume from that.” Within a few months, Iommi had both a new scent and a new song.

“Sergio also loves music, and he plays guitar,” Iommi says. “He said, ‘What about doing a tune for the scent?’ And we thought it best to do an instrumental as opposed a having a vocalist and going through all that. So I had this idea and I played it to him, and he liked it, and then I just added more parts to it to make it what it was.”

The pair wound up recording “Scent Of Dark,” the first musical composition Iommi has released since writing a classical piece for the Birmingham Cathedral in 2017 and first rock song since Black Sabbath’s 2013 album 13. The track bears all the hallmarks of Iommi’s signature style - a murky, mystical intro; heavy, swaggering riffs; and, of course, a bluesy, lyrical guitar solo - though with a little more drama than usual, thanks to accents from some orchestral string players. Momo, who plays an Iommi signature model guitar, takes the first solo on the song, while Jimmy Crutchley (who introduced Iommi to Momo) plays bass, Ash Sheehan handles the drums, and Iommi’s longtime producer Mike Exeter plays keyboards; Rebecca Rose and Julianne Bourne play cello and violin, respectively. The musicians filmed the song’s clip, which features copious cologne imagery, at Sudeley Castle near Gloucestershire, England.

“The only trouble is, when I was outside filming, I had an audience,” Iommi says during an interview in which he also discussed his future music plans. “All the people that go around viewing the castle were standing there watching me, looking like, ‘What’s he doing? Oh, dear.’"

Watch the video for "Scent Of Dark" below, and read the complete interview with Tony Iommi at Rolling Stone.

"Scent Of Dark" lineup:

Guitar - Tony Iommi
Guitar - Sergio Momo
Bass - Jimmy Crutchley
Drums - Ash Sheehan
Cello - Rebecca Rose
Violin - Julianne Bourne

Track written by Tony Iommi

Music Production - Mike Exeter
Recorded at Gospel Oak & Pig Music Studios
Production & Art Direction - Sergio Momo Xerjoff Group
Video - Daniele Brancaccio
Photography - Max Sticca
Special Effects - Donato Sansone