The Mandrake Project — A Track-by-Track Review of Bruce Dickinson’s New Album

2024 continues with yet another new album release in the heavy rock/metal world, this time a new solo album from Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson! His first solo effort in nearly two decades, The British singer reunites with guitarist, producer, and longtime solo album collaborator Roy Z for The Mandrake Project, with Z also having a big part in the songwriting.

While it may not be evident at first, The Mandrake Project is actually a concept album that tells the story of a top-secret government project of the same name. A series of comics related to the album will be released throughout the year, and are likely needed to fully understand the story this album tells.

With that all said, it’s time to give this a review! As always, the rating criteria I use:

Rating Scale:

9–10: Modern Classic

7–8.5: Great Song

5–6.5: Decent Song

3–4.5: Forgettable Song

1–2.5: Downright Unlistenable

Afterglow Of Ragnarok

If you don’t care to watch the short intro in this music video, skip to 0:45.

If I ever rank my favorite song titles of 2024, track 1 wins there without question. The song starts out with an ominous undertone and some drum hits that get progressively faster before the guitars come in. On first listen I was not huge on the use of 7-string guitars being used here as I usually don’t enjoy it in any context — This song, however, is an exception. Once that main riff comes in it’s a much different story for me; This is the riff from this album that I couldn’t, and still can’t get out of my head! Such a great, heavy riff that serves as the perfect introduction to the album and the plot. I particularly like the chorus of this song as well — Very melodic and reminiscent of something that could’ve been in an Iron Maiden song. If there’s any gripes I have with track 1, it’s that the solo uses a whammy pedal — It’s a short solo though, so it doesn’t stand out too badly in the song.

If you’re listening to the song and lyrics alone, you might find it hard to comprehend what’s going on in the plot. The above music video helps a bit, but as mentioned before I think the comic will be essential in understanding this grand story.

The music video itself has some cheesy-looking 2.5D effects throughout that don’t go well with the real people featured. Bruce is singing in front of a large, imposing gate whenever he’s featured in the video — Makes me think he’s the main antagonist of his own story!

Overall, this is a fantastic start to the album and is one of my favorite tracks here. While I’m not normally a fan of lower-tuned/7-string guitar riffs, I really enjoy this riff and I’d be happy to call this my favorite 7-string guitar song.

RATING: 9/10 — Modern Classic

Many Doors To Hell

Track 2 brings us back to 6-string riffs in standard tuning! While not as groovy as the riff of track 1, this one is still very catchy and fitting for Bruce. I really enjoy the electric organ throughout this song — Combined with the main guitar riff, it makes me think this is a classic Deep Purple song recorded in 2024. The solo here is a good one from Roy Z too, starting out slow and melodic, then ending with a flurry of tremolo picking. With the chorus and main guitar riff, I can see this being a live staple for Bruce when he does a solo tour.

RATING: 8.5/10 — Great Song

Rain On The Graves

Skip to 1:13 in the video if you want to get straight to the music.

Track 3 brings us to the album’s second single and music video. I’ll admit, I wasn’t very sold on this song on first listen — It’s a little basic for my liking. It’s grown on me since, however; I think the song works as a single with its simpler more straightforward structure and riffs. The guitar solo on this one is played by Chris Declercq, and it starts out reminiscent of a classic Iron Maiden solo before going into a fast, descending run with a flurry of alternate picking at the end. Overall, a good song, but there’s definitely better showings on the album.

RATING: 7/10 — Great Song

Resurrection Men

Track 4 kicks off with several repeated picks of a B note on the bass, followed up by some guitar chords on top a few seconds later. When the other instruments all come in and the main section of the song begins, it turns to a very western sound that to me is one of the standout moments of this album; I love how this part sounds! It’s very adventurous and unlike anything Iron Maiden would do, but Bruce pulls it off so well here. It’s got a great galloping rhythm too — Makes me think I’m driving a semi-trailer across the long, empty desert roads of the Southwest U.S. or crossing the Australian Outback. The middle section of the song takes a big turn by changing both tempo and feel, opting for chugging heavy power chords that’s reminiscent of early heavy rock/stoner rock songs, like those from Blue Cheer or even early Black Sabbath. I would’ve preferred if the western sound stuck for the whole song, but I still enjoy this part.

One thing of note about this song is that lyrically, its ties to the storyline are much more obvious and direct than the tracks that precede it. For starters, it directly mentions a character by name: Lazarus. On the official album website, the comic is centered around bringing the dead back to life — All mentioned throughout this song and evident in its title.

I’m a big fan of this song — I love the western sound as I mentioned and it’s easily a standout track to me. Here’s hope that Bruce plays this one live.

RATING: 9.5/10 — Modern Classic

Fingers In The Wounds

Track 5 has what’s probably Bruce’s best vocals on the album — He put so much ferocity and drama into his performance here even if the song mostly just follows the same three chords. If it weren’t for that, this would’ve been a filler track on this album. I do quite like the instrumental break in the middle though — Using middle eastern modes in rock and metal is always pleasing to the ears.

RATING: 7.5/10 Great Song

Eternity Has Failed

Track 6 may sound familiar to any fans of Bruce’s primary musical endeavor, right down to its title. Iron Maiden has a song called If Eternity Should Fail off of their Book of Souls album, and the two are indeed the same song — Albeit the one on this album being completely re-recorded. And as much of a fan of Iron Maiden that I am, I really prefer this version. The intro on this version is much better than Iron Maiden’s to me with all the tribal-like sounds in the intro (Bruce hit along the sides of a djembe to achieve this!). Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G takes all the guitar solos on this track, and he must’ve been told to channel his inner Janick Gers and Dave Murray for it. I do wish he played a bit more in his own style rather than trying to imitate the Iron Maiden guitarists, but it’s still cool to hear him shred away for over a minute. Regardless though, this is a great recreation of the Iron Maiden song in the way that Bruce likely conceptualized it from the start.

RATING: 8/10 — Great Song

Mistress Of Mercy

Chugging heavy drop D riffing — If that’s to your fancy then track 7 is the song for you! After a few listens this song isn’t making as much of an impression on me as the tracks above. It’s not too musically interesting and while its chorus is the best section of the song, it still fails to be a standout on the album. This isn’t a song I dislike by any measure, but this album definitely has better to offer.

RATING: 6.5/10 — Decent Song

Face In The Mirror

Track 8 brings the volume down a bit compared to what came before it on the album — A ballad in E minor. Like track 5, this one heavily relies on the same chord progression throughout the song — Bruce opts for less theatrical vocals on this one, however.

Something of note here is that Bruce himself plays the acoustic guitar parts on the song, and that includes the solo. So if you ever wanted to hear a Bruce Dickinson guitar solo, this is your chance!

Overall, this track is similar to track 7 in that it’s not all that musically interesting — I have to give the edge to this one though for being the one I’d rather listen to out of the two.

RATING: 7/10 — Great Song

Shadow Of The Gods

Track 9 comes in as the second-longest song on the album, clocking in at just over 7 minutes. This one starts out as an E minor ballad just like track 8 — That may seem like a recipe for a low rating, but remember that we have 7 minutes of song here, so there’s more than enough room for a change. And change it does! Distorted electric guitar comes in atop of the initial chord progression before a key change from E minor to B minor comes up. Once that ends, a heavy riff comes in and drives much of the second half of this song — This section featuring Bruce attempting a 90s alternative metal style chorus at age 65…I guess it sort of works! There’s a short but melodic guitar solo after this, immediately followed by a symphonic section that brings the song to its close.

This song starts off a little too similar to the one before it with that E minor progression, but that heavier section in the second half really carries this song — Even if you have to put up with Bruce Dickinson doing 90s alt-metal vocals in 2024.

RATING: 7.5/10 — Great Song

Sonata (Immortal Beloved)

Track 10 and the closing track of The Mandrake Project is the longest song on the album, clocking in at nearly 10 minutes. Honestly though, with how long this track is, not a whole lot goes on here — There’s not much change that happens throughout the song. It mostly just follows some chords, and then has Bruce do a spoken word section where he talks about the main character kissing a rotting corpse or something. There’s a guitar solo at the end, but it doesn’t stand out among other guitar solos here. I think this is a track that may be strengthened by listening along while reading the corresponding chapter in the comic book, but even then the music isn’t blowing anyone’s mind here.

RATING: 6/10 — Decent Song

OVERALL ALBUM RATING: 7.7/10 — Great Album

With all 10 tracks rated, Bruce Dickinson’s The Mandrake Project scores a rating of 7.7/10! On first listen this album was at least an 8 to me, but those last few tracks really do kind of drag on and dropped the score a tiny bit. Regardless, this is a very solid score for a guy who hadn’t released any solo material in nearly 20 years! You do have to respect how despite being a concept album, it really doesn’t FEEL like one when listening — You don’t have to keep track of all these different characters and plot points like other concept albums do. Still though, it’ll have to be seen how the listening experience is when paired with the comic book.

Along with Saxon’s equally rated Hell, Fire And Damnation, this is so far the highest album ranking I’ve given in 2024. We’ll see how long The Mandrake Project holds this distinction for (I think it could be surpassed very soon, hint hint).

Bruce will embark on a solo tour in the next few weeks, with the first show taking place on April 15 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA, then continuing with dates in Latin America and later Europe. He will tour with Iron Maiden later this year, starting on October 4 at San Diego’s North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre. The first two issues of the comic for this album have also been released and can be found at local comic stores or at Z2 Comics.