Bruce Dickinson has shared the video for “Rain on the Graves,” the second single from his forthcoming album The Mandrake Project.
The bombastic metal track sees Dickinson employing a half-spoken word/half-song delivery that allows him to essentially narrate the lyrics, as he often has in Iron Maiden.
Dickinson co-penned the music with guitarist Roy Z, and the duo keep the guitars and organs hot in the mix, creating a gothic power-metal atmosphere that’s driven home by regal horror of director Ryan Mackfall’s video. It’s also our first look at Dickinson’s “house band from hell,” aka his solo-band ensemble.
“I had the chorus lyric in my head since I visited Grasmere for a wedding back in 2012,” said Dickinson of “Rain on the Graves,” which was inspired by blues pioneer Robert Johnson. “It wasn’t difficult years later to create the rest of the song with so much rich imagery in my head!”
The track follows the lead single “Afterglow of Ragnarok,” our first glimpse into The Mandrake Project. The 10-song concept album arrives March 1st and explores a “dark, adult story of power, abuse and a struggle for identity, set against the backdrop of scientific and occult genius.”
The Mandrake Project will also be complemented by a graphic novel series dropping in 12 quarterly issues. The first issue was released earlier this month, and for more on the series, visit the Z2 Comics website.
Dickinson will be supporting the album’s release with an extensive 2024 tour consisting of South American and UK/European legs, and you can get tickets here.
See the video for “Rain on the Graves” below, and pre-order The Mandrake Project on vinyl here.