The Perfume That Reminds Tony Iommi of Death
Tony Iommi explained why a particular perfume reminds him of death and admitted he had a “fragrance cave” in his home.
The avid perfume collector recently collaborated on the creation of Scent of Dark, his signature cologne. He accompanied its launch with the release of an instrumental track of the same name. In a recent interview with Classic Rock, the Black Sabbath guitarist discussed his interest in the world of fragrance.
“There’s so many different ones I’ve had over the years, from Cartier onwards and Bond No.9, Tom Ford, and lots of different ones that I can’t even remember now,” Iommi said. “When I was younger, every Christmas you’d either get a little bottle of Old Spice [aftershave] or something; it was either that or Brut. As the years went by and we were touring more in America and Australia, I used to just pick up different ones.”
Asked if he kept his bottles in a collection cave, he replied: “I do. … There’s probably 80, something like that.”
Watch Tony Iommi's 'Scent of Dark' Video
He agreed that scents were closely related to memories and recalled one that remained with him, calling it “a terrible memory.” "It was one of my neighbors in a house I used to live in, and her daughter phoned me up and said, 'Oh, she’s fallen on the floor,'" he explained. "I went over there, and she passed away in my arms. And she had this perfume on that as soon as I smell it now, it smells like death to me. I don’t know what it was, but when I smell it, it reminds me.”
The track “Scent of Dark” was built from a riff Iommi came up with some time ago. “One of the few things I remember is riffs, most other things I forget,” he admitted. “I can be having a shower and suddenly think, ‘Oh, God, I remember that,’ and I’ll come up with a riff that I might have done years ago. But I do have lots of stuff on CDs from the past, and on computer, on my phone. I’ve got 500 or 600 different riffs.”