Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson has been causing quite a buzz in the metal community with the release of The Mandrake Project, his first solo album in 19 years. Bruce last delivered the stellar Tyranny of Souls in 2005 and has since been busy with his full-time gig, Iron Maiden. As a long-time fan of Bruce’s solo output, the release of The Mandrake Project has been a long time coming.
Set to be released on March 1st, 2024, Bruce released the first single, “The Afterglow of Ragnarok,” to much acclaim from critics and fans alike. In the wake of that single, another one has been released with a hilariously dramatic video for the song “Rain On the Graves.”
The video reflects Bruce’s love for over-the-top acting and conceptualization. Never to be taken too seriously, Bruce and his House Band of Evil (featuring guitarist Roy Z, drummer Dave Moreno, bass player Tanya O’Callaghan, and keyboard maestro Mistheria) star in a video that captures the vibe and look of the silent horror films of old which is appropriate for the lyrical context of the song.
“Rain on the Grave” was inspired by a rainy visit to the grave of poet William Wordsworth in the Lake District. The song grew into a rumination on the nature of mortality and the deal with the Devil that artists have come to feel themselves making ever since Robert Johnson proved it worthwhile in the 1930s. Bruce had this to say about the song and video:
“I had the chorus lyric in my head since I visited Grasmere for a wedding back in 2012,” explains Bruce, “and it wasn’t difficult years later to create the rest of the song with so much rich imagery in my head!”
“Rain on the Graves” is a classic Dickinson/Roy Z collaboration. While a musically heavy piece, it also has the signature catchy melody and hooks of their previous work together. In an almost spoken word kind of delivery in the verses, Bruce seems to be dramatically paying to William Wordsworth, the great wordsmith who inspired the title, while simultaneously raising the ghost of Robert Johnson at the crossroads.
Bruce Dickinson and his outstanding band will bring the music of The Mandrake Project to life with an extensive headline tour this spring and summer. When asked about the song selections for the tour Bruce had this to say:
It’s been God knows how many years since I actually went out on the road. I mean, it’s 19 years since my last solo album. Yeah, it’s a long time. So, given that, and given the fact that you’ve got seven albums to pick from now in terms of the setlist, I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment to have people listen to a brand new album start to finish.”
“We’re gonna do ‘Tears Of The Dragon’ [from 1994’s ‘Balls To Picasso’ album], we’re gonna do ‘Chemical Wedding’ [off 1998’s ‘The Chemical Wedding’], we’re gonna do ‘Accident Of Birth’ [off 1997’s ‘Accident Of Birth’], and all this, this stuff. I’m gonna limit it, probably, to the things I did with Roy, because that’s stuff that we share, with Roy and Dave Moreno, the drummer, and Mistheria did keyboards on all my records. So, you’ve gotta have a little limit that goes some way. ‘Okay, where’s our starting point?’ And effectively, it’s gonna be from ‘Balls To Picasso’ forward. I’m probably not gonna put any ‘Skunkworks’ [1996] stuff — not because I hate it, but just because we’ve got so many other great songs. I’m sure this won’t be the last tour that we do together, so we’ve got we got plenty of opportunity to go and do stuff. There’ll probably be three or four off the new record, for sure.”
Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project Tour
April 18th – Diana Theater, Guadalajara, MEXICO
April 20th – Pepsi Theatre, Mexico City, MEXICO
24th April – Live Curitiba, Curitiba, BRAZIL
April 25th – Pepsi On Stage, Porto Alegre, BRAZIL
April 27th – Opera Hall, Brasilia, BRAZIL
April 28th – Arena Hall, Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL
April 30th – Qualistage, Rio De Janeiro, BRAZIL
2nd May – Quinta Linda, Ribeirao Preto, BRAZIL
May 4th – Vibra, Sao Paulo, BRAZIL
May 16th – The Halls, Wolverhampton, UK +
May 18th – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK
May 19th – O2 Academy, Manchester, UK
May 21st – Arena, Swansea, UK
May 23rd – Rock City, Nottingham, UK
May 24th – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
May 26th – L’Olympia, Paris, FRANCE
May 28th – 013, Tilburg, HOLLAND
29th May – De Oosterport, Groningen, HOLLAND
1st June – Barba Negra, Budapest, HUNGARY
3rd June – Arenale Romane, Bucharest, ROMANIA
June 6th – Mystic Festival, Gdansk, POLAND *
5-8th June – Sweden Rock Festival, Solvesborg, SWEDEN *
June 9th – Rockefeller, Oslo, NORWAY
June 11th – Grona Lund, Stockholm, SWEDEN
June 13th – House Of Culture, Helsinki, FINLAND
June 14th – Noblessner Foundry, Tallinn, ESTONIA
June 16th – Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, GERMANY
17th June – Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, GERMANY
19 – 22nd June – Copenhell, Copenhagen, DENMARK *
June 21st – Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, BELGIUM *
June 22nd – Summerside Festival, Grenchen, SWITZERLAND *
24th June – Zeltfestival Rhein-Neckar, Mannheim, GERMANY *
June 25th – Circus Krone, Munich, GERMANY
26th – June 29th – Resurrection Festival, Galicia, SPAIN *+
27-30th June – Hellfest, Clisson, FRANCE *
30th June – Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette, LUXEMBOURG
3-6th July – Rockharz Open Air, Ballenstedt, GERMANY *
July 5th – Ippodrome Delle Capannelle, Rock In Roma, Rome, ITALY *
6th July – Bassano Del Grappa, Metal Park, Vincenza, ITALY *
July 9th – E-Werk, Koln, GERMANY
11th – July 14th – Masters Of Rock Festival, Vizovice, Czech Republic *+
July 13th – Hala, Zagreb, CROATIA
July 16th – Kolodrum Arena, Sofia, BULGARIA
July 19th – Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul, TURKEY
July 21st – Release, Athens, GREECE *
* – festival performance
+ – new date added
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