In a new interview with Sweden’s SVT, 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 SVT: “There’s a lot of kind of — not exactly — yeah, kind of like meditation on life and death in there, probably ’cause I had a little bit of a too close encounter with it when I had cancer. I didn’t think that changed my view of life and death. People asked me that question after I got better from it, and I was, like, ‘No, no. Easy-peasy. No, no, no. [Laughs] And, yeah — no, it did, but not in a bad way. Every day is, like, great. ‘Wow.’ So I try and live in that space.”

Dickinson, who was diagnosed with throat cancer back in late 2014, spoke about his recovery during the question-and-answer portion of his January 2022 spoken-word show in Orlando, Florida. Asked what advice he would give to anyone getting ready to start their own battle against cancer, he responded: “Here’s the way I dealt with it… And people will deal with it in different ways. I embraced the treatment. So I went along to see the big radiation machine and I said, ‘Okay, how does this work then? What does it do? And how much are you giving me and where? And how are you making a difference between this one and this one and this one? And you can do what with it? Wow, that’s really cool. That’s amazing. It’s insane, the technology.'”

He continued: “I would say embrace the treatment and always remember the likelihood… I don’t know what your cancer is. I don’t know the individual circumstances. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not gonna make any predictions. I can’t do anything like that, nor would I, ’cause it’s very private. But I have to say that the therapies that people are coming up with now are so on the edge and successful that you really do stand a very good chance. ‘Cause half of us are gonna get cancer, and it’s not a death sentence anymore, and you can deal with it. And the things they have to do to your body to get rid of it are getting better and better and better as we go down the line. They did some nasty things to my body. I’m lucky I’m completely clear of it and everything.

“I only really talk about it when I come to do these shows ’cause people want to know,” Bruce added. “I quite enjoy talking about it because you kind of demystify it a little bit for people. It’s a scary thing.”Z2 is making 666 editions of “Bruce Dickinson’s The Mandrake Project” signed bundles available to fans. This uniquely curated collection comes with one (1) “The Mandrake Project” foil collector’s card, signed by Bruce Dickinson; one (1) felt trading card pouch; one (1) “Bruce Dickinson’s The Mandrake Project” issue No. 1; one (1) “The Mandrake Project” first printing certificate of authenticity; one (1) Bill Sienkiewicz-illustrated “The Mandrake Project” art print and will be sold as a set for $100 USD, only at Z2comics.com.

“The Mandrake Project” events continue with a comic preview inserted in the special deluxe CD version of the album with promotional appearances for the comic series as well as extensive worldwide touring through 2025.

“Early in the process of writing my new album, the idea of a companion comic book began to take shape in my mind,” says Dickinson. “So I approached Z2 who were recommended to me by Kurt Sutter (‘Sons Of Anarchy’, ‘The Shield’) and Sacha Gervasi (‘My Dinner With Hervé’, ‘Anvil! The Story Of Anvil’). I then found out that my management were already working with Z2 on the ‘Piece Of Mind’ MAIDEN graphic novel which I contributed the ‘Revelations’ story to! I then pitched them with a fully formed concept and written storyline which they immediately understood and enthusiastically started fleshing out plans and ideas with me! I knew right then that they would be the perfect creative team to help bring my own ideas to fruition…and here they are!”

Editor-in-chief Rantz A. Hoseley puts the series in context: “Z2‘s model has always rested firmly in the graphic novel space, but when we sat down with Bruce and discussed the story of ‘The Mandrake Project’, and the experience that he wanted the readers to have with it, we realized two very important things: first, that this was a story that we had to be a part of. It reminded us of reading the iconic titles from Vertigo. The second realization was that ‘The Mandrake Project’ had to be released as a comic series and, as anyone in comics knows, releasing a series is a different animal.”

“Since Rantz and I come from the same comic shop trenches,” adds Z2 president Josh Bernstein, “we made sure that our comic retailers feel supported and that they have great partners in Z2 and Bruce Dickinson. It’s our hope that the efforts of making the free pullbox preview available to stores, giving retailers the PDF of the first issue before they order, clearly conveying the release schedule and plans for the next two years, as well as making the first issue returnable, make it clear that we place immense value on comic shops in measuring the success of Bruce Dickinson‘s ‘The Mandrake Project’.”