Last night, Bruce Dickinson unveiled the dramatic, action-packed video for “Afterglow Of Ragnarok”, the first single to be taken from his upcoming solo album “The Mandrake Project”. In front of a packed audience on the opening day of CCXP23, Brazil’s huge Comic-Con event in Sao Paulo, the IRON MAIDEN frontman premiered the spectacular film and revealed further details about the album and forthcoming comic series in partnership with Z2, including releasing 2,000 CCXP-exclusive versions of the comic to the delight of the international comic community.
“The Mandrake Project” will be released on March 1 via BMG. Across ten inventive, expansive and absorbing tracks, Bruce Dickinson and his long-term co-writer and producer Roy “Z” Ramirez, have created one of 2024’s defining rock albums. Sonically heavy and rich in musical textures, it sees Bruce bring to life a musical vision long-in-the-making, and features some of the finest vocal performances of his career.
Recorded largely at Los Angeles’s Doom Room with Roy Z doubling up as both guitarist and bassist, the lineup for “The Mandrake Project” was rounded out by keyboard maestro Mistheria and drummer Dave Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce‘s last solo studio album, “Tyranny Of Souls”, in 2005.
“The Mandrake Project” track listing:
01. Afterglow Of Ragnarok (05:45)
02. Many Doors To Hell (04:48)
03. Rain On The Graves (05:05)
04. Resurrection Men (06:24)
05. Fingers In The Wounds (03:39)
06. Eternity Has Failed (06:59)
07. Mistress Of Mercy (05:08)
08. Face In The Mirror (04:08)
09. Shadow Of The Gods (07:02)
10. Sonata (Immortal Beloved) (09:51)
Fans of both Bruce Dickinson and IRON MAIDEN will notice that the album features the curiously named “Eternity Has Failed”, which first appeared in a different form titled “If Eternity Should Fail” on IRON MAIDEN‘s 2015’s album “The Book Of Souls”, illustrating how long the creative process for “The Mandrake Project” has been in the works.
Bruce has previously described lead single “Afterglow Of Ragnarok” as “a heavy song and there’s a great big riff driving it… but there’s also a real melody in the chorus that displays the light and shade that the rest of the album brings.” And the track is brought vividly to life in the cinematic video which premiered last night.
Directed by award-winning director Ryan Mackfall, written by Dickinson and acclaimed British writer Tony Lee (whose lengthy credits include “2000AD”, DC and Marvel ranging from “Dr. Who” and “Star Trek” to “Spider Man” and “X-Men”),the film unveils Dr. Necropolis, the main protagonist at the heart of “The Mandrake Project”. It also sets the scene for the story to come, reflecting the dark narrative contained in the eight-page comic book prequel which features in the seven-inch gatefold vinyl release of the single.
Ryan Mackfall comments: “Many years before I was a director, I have fond memories of various music videos that spoke to me and one of those was ‘Can I Play With Madness’ by IRON MAIDEN. For me it defined what a music video is. Little did I know, many years later I’d be on a call with one of the stars of that video, Mr. Bruce Dickinson, discussing ideas for a music video. Bruce has felt like a kindred spirit from that moment and it was therefore only right that we attempted to bring the story of ‘Afterglow Of Ragnarok’ to life in a live action form. Naturally the music is a big part of the engine of the music video and this track was a heavy hitter from the first play. But beyond that I firmly believe it’s also the passion of the artist that defines the results — Bruce‘s passion is unmatched. I really hope the fans find themselves taking Necropolis’ journey with the mandrake juice time and time again. This is just the start of something very special!”
“The Mandrake Project” is not just an album, but a dark, adult story of power, abuse and a struggle for identity, set against the backdrop of scientific and occult genius. Created by Bruce Dickinson, the comic series is scripted by Tony Lee and stunningly illustrated by Staz Johnson for Z2 Comics, released as 12 quarterly issues that will be collected into three annual graphic novels. The first episode will be released in comic shops on January 17, 2024.
Bruce Dickinson and his phenomenal band will bring the music of “The Mandrake Project” to life with a major headline tour next spring and summer.
2024 tour dates:
April 18 – Diana Theater, Guadalajara, Mexico
April 20 – Pepsi Theatre, Mexico City, Mexico
April 24 – Live Curitiba, Curitiba, Brazil
April 25 – Pepsi On Stage, Porto Alegre, Brazil
April 27 – Opera Hall, Brasilia, Brazil
April 28 – Arena Hall, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
April 30 – Qualistage, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
May 2 – Quinta Linda, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil
May 4 – Vibra, Sao Paulo, Brazil
May 18 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK
May 19 – O2 Academy, Manchester, UK
May 21st May – Arena, Swansea, UK
May 23rd May – Rock City, Nottingham, UK
May 24 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
May 26 – L’Olympia, Paris, France
May 28 – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands
May 29 – De Oosterport, Groningen, Netherlands
June 1 – Barba Negra, Budapest, hungary
June 3 – Arenale Romane, Bucharest, Romania
June 5-8 – Mystic Festival, Gdansk, Poland *
June 5-8 – Sweden Rock Festival, Solvesborg, Sweden *
June 9 – Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
June 11 – Grona Lund, Stockholm, Sweden
June 13 – House Of Culture, Helsinki, Finland
June 14 – Noblessner Foundry, Tallinn, Estonia
June 16 – Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, Germany
June 17 – Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, Germany
June 19 – 22 – Copenhell, Copenhagen, Denmark *
June 21 – Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, Belgium *
June 22 – Summerside Festival, Grenchen, Switzerland *
June 24 – Zeltfestival Rhein-Neckar, Mannheim, Germany *
June 25 – Circus Krone, Munich, Germany
June 27-30 – Hellfest, Clisson, France *
June 30 – Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
July 3-6 – Rockharz Open Air, Ballenstedt, Germany *
July 5 – Ippodrome Delle Capannelle, Rock In Rome, Rome, Italy *
July 6 – Bassano Del Grappa, Metal Park, Vincenza, Italy *
July 9 – E-Werk, Koln, Germany
July 13 – Hala, Zagreb, Croatia
July 16 – Kolodrum Arena, Sofia, Bulgaria
July 19 – Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul, Turkey
July 21 – Release, Athens, Greece *
* Festival performance
Bruce Dickinson‘s touring band features guitarist Roy Z, drummer Dave Moreno, bass player Tanya O’Callaghan and keyboard maestro Mistheria.
“The Mandrake Project” will be Dickinson‘s seventh solo album and his first since “Tyranny Of Souls” in 2005. It will be released via BMG worldwide on multiple formats.
Back in December 2017, Dickinson said that his next solo LP would likely include a reworked version of “If Eternity Should Fail”, the opening track on “The Book Of Souls”. At the time, he said that he had about “half” of his seventh record already written and he also confirmed that “If Eternity Should Fail” was originally penned as a Dickinson solo track.
He told Finland’s Kaaos TV that the original plan was for his next solo record to be “a whole concept album, which was gonna be called ‘If Eternity Should Fail’. And ‘If Eternity Should Fail’ was the title track to my new solo album,” he said. “And a bit like [Dickinson‘s 1989 solo song] ‘Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter’ [laughs], it got commandeered for IRON MAIDEN. So if I did do another solo album, which I think I will, I might just stick to my original plan and have that as the title track. I mean, I did write it — it was the first track that I wrote for it. So, yeah, I’d probably still include that song. But it would be… the feel would be slightly different — not very much, though — from the MAIDEN version.”
In 2015, Dickinson told France’s Hard Force magazine that “If Eternity Should Fail” ended up being used by IRON MAIDEN after bassist Steve Harris heard the demos that Bruce was working on for what was supposed to be his next solo album. “And [Steve] went, ‘That’s a really cool song. Can we use that? That’s gonna be the opening song on the album,'” he recalled. “And I went, ‘Yeah, okay.’ And he was already writing, I think… He was already thinking of ‘The Book Of Souls’ as being the title, so he told me about the Mayan thing. And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool. Okay. Yeah, I see where you’re going.’ But in my case, that song was written as part of a story. So the spoken word at the end is the beginning of a story that goes through the whole album. And one of the characters is Dr. Necropolis; he’s the bad guy. And the good guy is Professor Lazarus; he raises people from the dead. So that introduces Necropolis in the spoken-word thing. And I asked Steve… I said, ‘Look. Okay. I get having the song…’ ‘Cause it opens up with, ‘Here is the soul of a man.’ ‘Yup. Get that. But what about the end?’ I said, ‘Will people understand what this is about? Because this is nothing to do with the Mayans or anything. This is to do with… I’d come up with a concept album that doesn’t happen.’ [Laughs] And he [went], ‘No, no, no. It’s just talking about souls and everything, and it sounds great.’ I went, ‘Okay.’ [Laughs]”
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. Since then, Dickinson has only released one more solo album (the aforementioned “Tyranny Of Souls”) but has previously said that his solo career is not over.
Photo credit: John McMurtrie
