The song appears on his new album that is set for release in March
Bruce Dickinson has released his new single “Rain On The Graves,” accompanied by a thrilling video introducing Bruce’s live band, comprising guitarist Roy Z, drummer Dave Moreno, bass player Tanya O’Callaghan and keyboard maestro Mistheria.
“Rain On The Graves” is the second single to be taken from Dickinson’s forthcoming seventh solo studio album The Mandrake Project which will be released on March 1st via BMG. Riding on a towering guitar riff, with dramatic keyboards and a commanding vocal performance, it was inspired by a rainy visit to Romantic poet William Wordsworth’s grave 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 back in the 1930s.
“I had the chorus lyric in my head since I visited Grasmere for a wedding back in 2012,” explains Dickinson, “and it wasn’t difficult years later to create the rest of the song with so much rich imagery in my head!” It is a classic Dickinson/Roy Z collaboration; a catchy but heavy piece – full of melody but stripping out the spoken vocals of the verses in almost poetic fashion – maybe a further ode to the great wordsmith who inspired the title, somehow juxtaposed with music fit to raise the ghost of Robert Johnson at his metaphorical crossroads.
With a video shot entirely in a wintery Cornwall – again with Director Ryan Mackfall – we get to see Bruce the actor, a preacher no less, making his deal with the devil and dragging his “house band from hell” into the bargain.
The follow-up single to the hugely acclaimed track “Afterglow Of Ragnarok,” “Rain On The Graves” showcases the inventive, expansive and absorbing nature of The Mandrake Project.
Sonically heavy and rich in musical textures, the album sees Bruce bring to life a musical vision long in the making. Created with co-writer and producer Roy Z, they have crafted one of the defining rock albums of 2024.
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 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 with the first coming at the end of 2024. The first individual episode was released in comic shops on January 17th and the special Collectors Edition sold out within 48 hours of release.
Bruce Dickinson and his phenomenal band will bring the music of The Mandrake Project to life with a major headline tour this spring and summer. A newly announced extra show in Wolverhampton at the refurbished The Halls on May 16th will go on sale next week. Support in the UK, Paris & Tilburg comes from New Zealand up-and-coming rockers Black Smoke Trigger.
