Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project

After 19 years without releasing a solo album, Bruce Dickinson shows his talent with the excellent The Mandrake Project.

Whether within Iron Maiden, during his various solo escapades or more recently during his spoken word performance tour, what has always distinguished – and elevated – Bruce Dickinson from many of his colleagues and congeners of the metal-hard-rock sphere lies in its science of storytelling, even in the art of monopolizing it. And it’s an understatement to say that he pushes the principle to a form of paroxysm here, with his first solo album in almost twenty years, to the point that it would be tempting to see it as a rock opera that wouldn’t say its name .

With this reservation that the ten chapters present often have no real link other than the phantasmagoria with which our man develops them, free to rely on the consistency of a group led by his faithful Roy Z on guitar and broken to flamboyant hard rock. Presented by the person concerned as a personal journey, The Mandrake Project proves once again how Dickinson has the gift of acting as a guide that we never hesitate to follow.

Find this review on the Iron Maiden singer’s new solo album and many others in our issue 160. It is available on newsstands and via our online store. Order it now with the cover you prefer. Choose between Eric Clapton and Bruce Dickinson.

The Mandrake Project is available

Here is the tracklist and cover:

1. Afterglow Of Ragnarok
2. Many Doors To Hell
3. Rain On The Graves
4. Resurrection Men
5. Fingers In The Wounds
6. Eternity Has Failed
7. Mistress Of Mercy
8. Face In The Mirror
9. Shadow Of The Gods
10. Sonata (Immortal Beloved)