IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson has announced a limited-edition CD release for his new solo single, “Resurrection Men”, out on July 26 via BMG.
“The surf guitar at the intro — the Dick Dale bit — that’s me!” explains Dickinson about “Resurrection Men” in between dates on his hugely acclaimed first solo tour of Europe in two decades. “We were just mucking around with the tremolo setting, we put the chords down and I went, ‘Okay, that’s kinda cool!’ It was, like, ‘What if Quentin Tarantino made a metal record?’ Then it goes somewhere different, we get a bit heavy, and we did this whole middle section and it was, like, ‘Were you just channeling Geezer Butler in another life?’ It was early [BLACK] SABBATH — ‘Behind The Wall Of Sleep’. Just, ‘Oh my god, that’s heavy!'”
The three-track CD comes in gatefold digi-sleeve and includes a limited number of double-sided Mandrake “Movie Posters” (375mm x 285mm) for pre-orders via the official Mandrake Project store only, reflecting the comic book artwork for episode 3 which will be released via Z2 comics on July 17.
The two CD bonus songs, “Afterglow Of Ragnarok” and “Abduction”, have been recorded live at Dickinson’s show in São Paulo, Brazil on May 4, 2024 as part of his current world tour for his latest solo album, “The Mandrake Project”.
“Resurrection Men” single track listing:
01. Resurrection Men
02. Afterglow Of Ragnarok (Live)
03. Abduction (Live)
After playing two warm-up shows at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, Dickinson officially kicked off his first solo tour in more than 20 years on April 15 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California.
Joining the IRON MAIDEN singer on the trek is his current backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums),Mistheria (keyboards) and Tanya O’Callaghan (bass),alongside the group’s latest additions, Swedish guitarist, songwriter and multi-platinum-credited producer Philip Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Dickinson‘s “Rain On The Graves” single). Bruce‘s longtime guitarist and collaborator Roy “Z” Ramirez is not part of the touring lineup.
Prior to the April 12 Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.
During an appearance on the April 16 episode of SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, Bruce was asked if there are plans for him to stage a full U.S. tour in support of “The Mandrake Project”. He responded: “I brought the [booking] agents and the promoters, and everybody came down and saw the Whisky show [in West Hollywood, California over the weekend], and now they know what they’ve got to deal with in terms of doing a U.S. tour. So, we’re looking at it, we’re planning it.
“I absolutely wanna do a full U.S. tour with ‘The Mandrake Project’,” he added. “I obviously can’t do one for the rest of this year [due to commitments in other parts of the world and MAIDEN‘s upcoming touring activities], but there’s ’25 and there’s numerous opportunities that will crop up. So the answer to that is yes, of course, we wanna come and do the U.S.”
Roy played guitar on Dickinson‘s 1994 album “Balls To Picasso” and went on to produce, co-write and perform multiple instruments on Bruce‘s subsequent three solo albums, “Accident At Birth” (1997),“The Chemical Wedding” (1998) and “Tyranny Of Souls” (2005).
O’Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Dickinson last year as part of a performance of Jon Lord‘s “Concerto For Group And Orchestra” on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America.
Californian drummer Moreno previously played on “Tyranny Of Souls” and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed and Steve Stevens, among others.
Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto and Joel Hoekstra.
“The Mandrake Project” arrived on March 1 via BMG.
Bruce and Roy recorded “The Mandrake Project” largely at Los Angeles’s Doom Room, with Roy doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for “The Mandrake Project” was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce‘s last solo studio album, “Tyranny Of Souls”, in 2005.
Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the “Number Of The Beast” album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith.
Photo credit: John McMurtrie
