The song, inspired by a rainy excursion to William Wordsworth’s grave in the picturesque Lake District, encapsulates Dickinson’s signature style. With a towering guitar riff, dramatic keyboards, and Dickinson’s commanding vocals, ‘Rain On The Graves’ delves into themes of mortality and the timeless allure of artistic sacrifice. The frontman reflects on the origins of the song, stating, “I had the chorus lyric since I visited Grasmere for a wedding back in 2012, and it wasn’t difficult years later to create the rest of the song with so much rich imagery in my head!”

The accompanying video, shot against the wintery backdrop of Cornwall and directed by Ryan Mackfall, features Dickinson in a riveting performance as a preacher negotiating with the Devil, with his ‘House Band from Hell’ in tow.

Following the success of the acclaimed track ‘Afterglow Of Ragnarok’, ‘Rain On The Graves’ serves as another testament to the inventive and expansive nature of ‘The Mandrake Project’. The album, co-created with producer Roy Z, promises to be one of the defining rock releases of 2024.

However ‘The Mandrake Project’ is more than just an album; it’s a multimedia experience. Accompanying the music is a dark, adult-themed comic series of the same name, penned by Dickinson himself and scripted by Tony Lee, illustrated by Staz Johnson, and featuring covers by industry heavyweight Bill Sienkiewicz. Set against the backdrop of scientific and occult genius, the series explores themes of power, abuse, and identity. The first episode made its debut on January 17, with the special Collector’s Edition selling out within 48 hours.

Bruce Dickinson and his band will bring ‘The Mandrake Project’ to life on a headline tour this spring and summer. An extra show in Wolverhampton at The Halls on May 16 has just been added, with presale details available here.

‘The Mandrake Project’ will mark Bruce Dickinson’s seventh solo album, hitting the global music scene on March 1 through BMG. Fans can secure their copy by pre-ordering here. Stay tuned for more updates on the progression of ‘The Mandrake Project’ as the narrative intricacies unfold within this multifaceted musical project.

Catch Bruce Dickinson and band live on the following dates:

16/05/24 – The Halls – Wolverhampton

18/05 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow

19/05 – O2 Academy – Manchester

21/05 – Arena – Swansea

23/05 – Rock City – Nottingham

24/05 – O2 Forum Kentish Town – London

The track will be the first single from his upcoming solo album, The Mandrake Project, with this being his first solo project since 2005. Due for release on 1st December, Dickinson shared a teaser video to hype up his fans.

In a press release Dickinson said, “it was important to set the tone of the project with this track,” with him promising that it will be staying loyal to his rock roots.

He continued, “As befitting its title, it’s 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 just wait until you see the video!”

Afterglow of Ragnarok – The new single from Bruce’s ‘The Mandrake Project’!

Out 1st Dec and available to pre-order on Deluxe Gatefold 7″ Vinyl and pre-save on your favourite streaming platform – https://t.co/6wGZY9gkc3

The vinyl single includes the B-side ‘If Eternity Should… pic.twitter.com/9tCciiabAg

— Iron Maiden (@IronMaiden) November 6, 2023

The album, The Mandrake Project, will focus on the struggle that comes with power and establishing your identity, overlaid on a backdrop of science and the occult. The release date has not yet been confirmed, but fans can expect it to be available in 2024. When purchasing the album, fans will receive an accompanying comic book series that further explores the story of the album.

The comic book series will be a trilogy, focusing on “a dark, adult story of power, abuse and a struggle for identity, set against the backdrop of scientific and occult genius.”

Listen to Dickinson divulge more information on the project below, in which he shares that “it’s music but it’s also much much more,” with him revealing that it’s been in the works since 2014.

Dickinson has also announced a solo tour, set to begin in May 2024. He will be touring the UK and Europe. Tickets are available to purchase here.

Preorder the 7 inch vinyl edition of “Afterglow of Ragnarok” complete with comic book here.

18/05/2024 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow
19/05/2024 – Manchester Academy – Manchester
21/05/2024 – Swansea Arena – Swansea
23/05/2024 – Rock City – Nottingham
24/05/2023 – O2 Forum Kentish Town – London

Stream Bruce Dickinson’s solo work here.

Now, as the singer has just turned 65, Dickinson has revealed that he has had to take a massive step back from flying-at least with the commercial plane variety. Speaking to Triple M Rock, Dickinson said, “I just turned 65. In most jurisdictions in the world, if you’re a pilot – a commercial pilot – at 65, they sneak you round the back and just put a bullet in your brain. Like an old dog or an old horse, gotta put it down now. The last time I went near a commercial aircraft to fly it was in 2017.”

The Iron Maiden frontman has also embarked on a few solo projects over the years, recently announcing his seventh solo endeavour The Mandrake Project which is due for release sometime in early 2024. And the singer still somehow manages to find the time to indulge in his passion for fencing-a sport he has participated in since the 1980s.

Dickinson continued, “I’m still fencing. I’m a veteran now. There’s a vets team and I still do Commonwealth championships. Being a vet is brilliant, actually, because all you have to do is survive and wait, and eventually everybody else will die, then you get in the team.”

Dickinson recently revealed that Iron Maiden have absolutely no plans to call it a day, with enthusiasm within the band still at its highest. Demand for the group could not be any more apparent as the band are set to continue their highly successful Future Past Tour in Australia and New Zealand in September of 2024. Dickinson will also be touring his solo project in the Spring in Mexico and South America.

Bruce Dickinson announces #TheMandrakeProject

Coming early 2024…#BruceDickinson #Album #Tour pic.twitter.com/6WNzzqj3b9

— Iron Maiden (@IronMaiden) September 21, 2023

The album will include collaborator Roy Z, a guitarist who has been apart of nearly every single solo album Dickinson has released since 1994’s Balls to Picasso

Not a lot more information has been released about the album however, with a tracklist or a lead single yet to be revealed.

In a press release Dickinson said: “This album has been a very personal journey for me and I am extremely proud of it, Roy Z and I have been planning, writing and recording it for years, and I am very excited for people to finally hear it. I’m even more excited at the prospect of getting out on the road with this amazing band that we have put together, to be able to bring it to life. We’re planning to play as many shows as we can in as many places as possible, for as many people as we can! As for what The Mandrake Project actually is… all will be revealed soon!”

Dickinson has announced a tour of Mexico and Brazil which begins in Guadalajara on April 18, 2024. No other dates have been announced, however it seems like Dickinson has plans to spread the tour across other regions, as he said: “I’m even more excited at the prospect of getting out on the road with this amazing band that we have put together, to be able to bring it to life, we’re planning to play as many shows as we can in as many places as possible, for as many people as we can!”

This will be Dickinson’s 7^th solo album overall since releasing his first, Tattooed Millionaire, in 1990.

Earlier this year, Dickinson had been recently touring spoken word poetry across Europe. He has also spent the year touring with Iron Maiden in support of their latest album Senjutsu, released two years ago in 2021 alongside celebrating 1986 Sci-fi inspired classic, Somewhere In Time.

Iron Maiden continue touring North America until early October, bring the tour to a close at the jam-packed Power Trip Festival in California. It can be assumed that more details regarding the album will be released sometime after the tour has commenced.

IRON MAIDEN’s BRUCE DICKINSON: ‘I Don’t Want To Be In The ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME’ https://t.co/9bfFa6vnDk pic.twitter.com/sqmdsf6wrP

— BLABBERMOUTH.NET (@BLABBERMOUTHNET) June 16, 2023

Opinion tends to be divided on everything concerning the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame- from how much of an honour the induction actually is to Iron Maiden’s exclusion being down right criminal. But Dickinson has shed light onto how the band really feels about it, claiming they couldn’t care less about the distinction-mainly due to the fact that the band are not dead yet.

Eligible for induction since 2004, the band have been snubbed twice as recently as 2021 and 2023. Shortly thereafter, many fans critics and music industry insiders voiced their displeasure at what many consider to be an affront on what many would consider the greatest heavy metal acts of all time.

Dickinson, for his part, is quite bullish about the whole thing, claiming the music industry might feel threatened by metal as it does not conform to current trends within popular music.  Speaking about his band’s continued, Dickinson said, “we don’t give a monkey’s. Because the people that get us are not the people who run the music business establishment, whatever that is. Because that is largely run by people that can’t make a living doing anything else. I don’t want to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Because we’re not dead yet!” 

Of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has not sat idly by and ignored the criticism. Citing that they understand the feeling some fans have toward their favourite bands, they are happy to see such emotions stirred in Iron Maiden supporters. President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Greg Harris said about being inducted, “we love that people…care if [Iron Maiden are] in or out, and that their fans care. The truth is anybody that’s nominated, the odds are good that they’ll eventually gonna get in. In fact, I think it may be as high as 90 percent eventually go in.”

So, Iron Maiden fans can take heart that the odds are heavily in their favour to one day in the near future, join their rock and metal colleagues already inducted. Meanwhile, the band continue to remain as active in the scene as ever, having released their 17th studio album, Senjutsu back in 2021. They have also recently began the European leg of their Future Past Tour in support of Senjutsu which include key dates in the UK.

Find tickets for Iron Maiden’s Future Past Tour here.

Iron Maiden Future Past Tour:

21/06/2023 – Zag Arena – Hanover, Germany
24/06 – 3Arena – Dublin
26/06 – Ovo Hydro – Glasgow
28/06 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
30/06 – AO Arena – Manchester
03/07 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
04/07 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham
07/07 – O2 Arena – London
08/07 – O2 Arena – London
11/07 – Ziggo Dome – Amsterdam, Netherlands
13/07 – Sportpaleis – Antwerp, Belgium
15/07 – The Return of the Gods Festival – Milan, Italy
18/07 – Palau Sant Jordi – Barcelona, Spain
20/07 – Estadio Enrique Roca – Murcia, Spain
22/07 – Bizkaia Arena Bec – Bilbao, Spain
25/07 – Westfalenhalle – Dortmund, Germany
26/07 –  Westfalenhalle – Dortmund, Germany
29/07 – Festhalle – Frankfurt, Germany
31/07 – Olympiahalle – Munich, Germany
01/08 – Olympiahalle – Munich, Germany
04/08 – Waken Open Air – Waken, Germany

Senjutsu received a swathe of positive reviews, appearing in numerous best albums of the year lists. However, there’s still one point of soreness for the band. The album narrowly missed a number one spot in the UK, being up against Canadian rapper Drake’s album Certified Lover Boy, which beat the heavy metal outfit by a narrow 1,200 units.

Despite the apparent loss, Iron Maiden’s lead singer Bruce Dickinson seems to have lost no faith in his band’s latest release, having this to say about Drake: “I don’t really get what he does, though a lot of people do, but going head to head with him felt like, ‘No this is real music played by a bunch of old geezers who make no concessions to the times in which we live’. Seemingly sensitive to accusations of a ‘generation gap’ kind of thing going on here, Dickinson explained that “People say. ‘You’re dinosaurs.’ And we go, ‘Yeah and there aren’t too many of those left.’ This is who we are, it’s what we do.”

Dickinson seems quite proud of Iron Maiden’s rather old school approach to rock stardom, speaking recently on Anders Bøtters Tiny TV (a Denmark-based YouTube channel that interviews musical artists) where he noted the band’s lack of social media involvement in terms of growing their fan base, instead actually going out to people and playing for them.

The singer compared the band’s fans to a table, saying “Iron Maiden fans are a little bit like plywood — we get a new layer every year, and they all just stick together, so eventually we get a table that’s, like, ten feet thick… And, of course, we’ve got people that started in 1983, ’84, and we’ve got people that started in the year 2000, 2005, 2015 — generations and generations.”

So there you have it. If you fancy joining the ever-growing legion of Iron Maiden fans out there, you can make a start by purchasing their latest album right here. Also, they’ll be embarking on a new ‘Legacy of the Beast’ world tour later this year, with tour dates ranging from May to October on their website. If you’re interested in tickets, you can look here.

30 shows added to an updated Legacy of the Beast 2022 world tour in America, Canada, Mexico & Europe!

Critically acclaimed show to be even more spectacular with the addition of a whole new world around Senjutsu.

Get all the information > https://t.co/ngxxmcoSK0#IronMaiden pic.twitter.com/MZ6gyjTsff

— Iron Maiden (@IronMaiden) December 1, 2021

‘I put it down to the fact that during the last tour, just shortly before the last tour, I also broke my Achilles as well — my Achilles tendon snapped… It’s horrible. That was two years ago, basically. So I got that stitched back together and went out on tour three and a half months later. I couldn’t actually walk properly or run. So I modified what I did on stage, and nobody figured it out. I was amazed’ he stated.

Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hip: ‘I was getting addicted to Ibuprofen and all the rest of it, and it pissed me off so much. I was just, like, ‘Look, it’s not gonna get any better, is it?’ And he went, ‘No.’ So I said, ‘It’s October. When the safety car comes out, Hamilton goes in for fresh tires. So let’s do it now in October, because I might have a tour next year.’ Little did I know. But being an eternal optimist, it was the best thing I’ve done.’

Now, with his brand new hip, he feels rejuvenated: ‘So now, with my new hip, I’m back to fencing again. It’s absolutely incredible. I’ve been doing physio and doing weights that I haven’t done since I was 16 or 17 years old. I’m squatting a hundred kilos. It’s mental what your body can do.’ Hence, Dickinson is ready to undertake his spoken word UK tour, starting in Brighton on August 1^st.

Dickinson is joining forces with director, writer and executive producer: Sacha Gervasi, to write a screenplay based on his solo gig during the Siege of Sarajevo. Bruce said on the extraordinary performance: “The gig was immense, intense and probably the biggest show in the world at that moment for the audience and for us. That the world didn’t really know didn’t matter. It changed the way I viewed life, death and other human beings.”

United Nations soldiers guarded the metal musician and his Skunkworks bandmates as they were smuggled into Sarajevo in December 1994 to offer not just musical entertainment but also a form of respite to civilians living amidst an ongoing siege. The city was under fire from the Army of Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Army) from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996, amassing to 1425 days at the height of the Bosnian War, with more than 11,000 people killed. It is reported that United Nations negotiator Trevor Gibson initially set out to book The Rolling Stones to play for the civilians caught amidst the ongoing battle; however, he instead persuaded Dickinson and the Skunkworks group to enter war-torn Sarajevo. Dickinson would go on to receive honorary citizenship by the city in 2019 as recognition of his 1994 visit. 

Co-writer Sacha Gervasi said on the upcoming screenplay: “I first met Bruce Dickinson as a 15-year-old Maiden fan in London in 1982. Now, nearly 40 years later, to be co-writing this extraordinarily intense and personal story with Bruce himself is a genuine and unexpected honour. The real story of the kids and local musicians who attended that show is as poignant as it is inspiring. Many of them didn’t make it. As Bruce has already said, we hope this film will be a tribute to them.”

The screenplay is not the first film to portray the Iron Maiden vocalist’s performance in Sarajevo. In 2018, a documentary ‘Scream For Sarajevo’ was premiered across UK cinemas, featuring footage from the performance and exclusive interviews of those who made it happen. Sacha Gervasi and Bruce Dickinson have said the upcoming film will be different in style, as it is confirmed to be a narrative screenplay.

In other news, Bruce Dickson has recently announced a solo spoken word UK tour across six dates and is set to break down the fourth wall. In a two-act performance, Dickinson will deliver anecdotal tales and engage in a live Q&A. 

Bruce Dickinson has lived an extraordinary life, both on and off the stage. His many accomplishments – music aside – include pilot and airline captain, aviation entrepreneur, beer brewer, film scriptwriter, novelist, actor and sports commentator, just to name a few. With his heavy metal band Iron Maiden, formed in 1975 but joined by Dickinson in 1999, he released sixteen studio albums, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide and 41 awards nomination, 29 of which were won.

The show is described as a ’cornucopia of fascinating tales and derring-do exploits, all delivered by Bruce with characteristically infectious enthusiasm and wry wit.’ The evenings will be split into two parts: the first one will see Dickinson taking a satirical and humorous stance on today’s society from his personal perspective. Indeed, he will share private insights of his drive and ambition, most likely including some Iron Maiden anecdotes, and he will be accompanied by photographs, videos and possibly some a-cappella song bits ‘to illustrate a point‘.

The second half of the evening will be entirely dedicated to fans through a Q&A. Here, fans will have the opportunity to pose any type of questions, ‘the more left-field and quirky the question, the more interesting and compelling the response is likely to be!’, Live Nation explains. In other words, this is the opportunity to see an extremely fascinating personality in a rare intimate environment.

Tickets will go on general sale Friday the 29th of April at 10 am on Ticketmaster.

Tour Dates below:

1/08/2021 – Theatre Royal – Brighton
4/08 – The Lowry – Salford
5/08 – St George’s Hall – Bradford
8/08 – Theatre Royal –  Nottingham
9/08 – The Alexandra – Birmingham
10/08 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – London