BRUCE DICKINSON Explains How ‘The Mandrake Project’ Grew Into Much More Than Just An Album

In a new interview with Brazil’s Omelete, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson spoke about his upcoming solo album “The Mandrake Project”, which will be released on March 1 via BMG. Bruce Dickinson and his long-term co-writer and producer Roy “Z” Ramirez recorded the LP largely at Los Angeles’s Doom Room, with Roy Z doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording 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.

Regarding the lyrical concept for “The Mandrake Project”, Dickinson told Omelete (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “So ‘The Mandrake Project’ is, one, is an album. It’s the name of the album. The comic is a 12-episode graphic novel, kind of adult. There’s lots of stuff in it — there’s lots of sex and drugs and violence and all kinds of stuff. But it’s basically a story about a guy who is looking for his identity, Dr. Necropolis. He’s an orphan, he’s a genius, and he hates it, and he hates life, but he’s involved in The Mandrake Project. And The Mandrake Project aims to take the human soul at the point of death, capture it, store it and put it back in something else. And the guy that’s running the project, Professor Lazarus, he has one vision of what’s gonna happen with this technology, and Necropolis has other ideas. And on we go with the story.”

Asked how he came up with the idea to mash together music and comics, Bruce said: “Well, I think they do kind of go together. They really do. Music and games, music and comics, comics and games, they’re all related.”

He continued: “Years ago, IRON MAIDEN, we were doing some cover art, and I said, ‘Why don’t we do a comic?’, like the comics that I used to read when I was a kid… When I suggested doing some covers, comic covers, we did some single artwork for IRON MAIDEN, and I thought, ‘You know what? This is kind of cool.’ Then later, MAIDEN had a video game called ‘Legacy Of The Beast’; we still do. But what came with a video game, somebody produced a series of comics. And I thought they looked fantastic, but they lacked a story. And that got me thinking, what if you had an album that had a story that could be turned into a comic and the two things would work together? As it happened, they’ve actually grown apart. So, the [original] album, in 2014, was gonna be one comic with the album — that’s it. Then, COVID happened, other things happened, seven years went by, and I had a 12-episode graphic novel. And I went, ‘I don’t wanna restrict the album to being like a script for this.’ These two things exist separately, but they inform each other. So you can look at the album and go, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s kind of related to the comic.’ And you look at the comic and go, ‘Oh, I see that might be a little bit related to the album,’ but they’re not dependent on each other. So you can buy the comic or you can buy the album — or both.”

On November 30, Dickinson unveiled the dramatic, action-packed video for “Afterglow Of Ragnarok”, the first single to be taken from “The Mandrake Project”. In front of a packed audience on the opening day of CCXP23, Brazil’s huge Comic-Con event in São 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” 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.

Bruce‘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.

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.