Bruce Dickinson has crossed a major milestone on his next solo record. The Iron Maiden singer has finished tracking vocals for his eighth solo album, moving the follow-up to 2024’s The Mandrake Project into its final stage ahead of a tentative early-2027 release through BMG.
Dickinson marked the occasion himself on Friday, July 31, sharing a photo from the studio with producer Brendan Duffey and a note that the record is now bound for the mixing stage: “Finished vocals for the new album today, me and @brendan_duffey_audio , the producer, having a selfie in the vocal booth ! Now he’s off to mix it in Florida. @declercq_official @davedrums1221 @brendan_duffey_audio and me saying farewell to the doom room … for now.”
The bulk of the album was captured earlier this year, across January and February, at Dave Grohl‘s Studio 606 in Northridge, California, with Duffey producing. It’s not the pair’s first collaboration: Duffey was behind the partly re-recorded, remixed and freshly mastered edition of Dickinson‘s second solo album, Balls To Picasso, reissued as More Balls To Picasso in July 2025. With the singing now complete, Duffey is taking the tapes to his own facility, Brendan Duffey Audio, in Jupiter, Florida, where the mixing sessions will unfold.
One of the album’s most intriguing wrinkles is a family affair. During last month’s San Diego Comic-Con, Dickinson told Steve Harkins of “TalkShopLive” that the record will feature a collaboration with his son Austin. The elder Dickinson‘s oldest child, 35-year-old Austin, is an accomplished musician in his own right, best known as the former frontman of the metal bands Rise To Remain and As Lions — making the pairing a rare on-record meeting of father and son.
“I’m really lucky that my kids, in particular my oldest son Austin, is a writer. So the conversations that we have, he bounces ideas off me, I bounce ideas off him. And he’s a musician as well, and he’s a great singer. He had three albums. He was in a band called Rise To Remain. They did a couple of albums. And then he [sang in] a band called — it was his band, actually — As Lions, and they had a bit of a hit and stuff. But it’s tough trying to make a living [playing an up-and-coming band]. I mean, he toured the States and everything and had radio hit. So he got into script writing, which he’s very, very talented. But, of course, that’s no guarantee of success. You just gotta keep plugging away. But he wrote a tune for me on my new record. And when we were recording it, he came round the studio and was just loving it. And it’s gonna be one of the key tracks on the record. And I’d love to work with him again. I mean, he’s what I would describe as a pure creative. His whole life is doing stuff. And you’ve gotta put it somewhere,” he said at the time.
Dickinson first revealed the album was finished in an April interview with Rolling Stone, describing a recording sprint that he framed as a pointed rejection of modern studio technology:
“I just finished a solo record: We did 16 tracks in 21 days, all 100 percent live. It’s like the anti-A.I. generation.”
The sessions also drew a guest: Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser added percussion, and called the chance to work with Dickinson at Studio 606 an honor.
He wrote at the time: “What a privilege! Truly an honor to participate on the new album of the great master of metal @brucedickinsonhq a gentleman and a f**king legend! Thank you for letting me play some percussion on the album! Obrigado @brendan_duffey_audio pelo convite! And @daveghrol what a studio you created, simply magical. Hope you like the distortion from the new pedal @fuelmusicaudio Heavy Metal rules.”
Singer Jeff Scott Soto got an early earful of the album by chance, dropping by the studio to see Mistheria just as Bruce was wrapping his vocals. He recounted the visit:
“How lucky am I? I went to say hello to my dear friend Mistheria who I worked with on his Vivaldi Metal Project and of course is part of Bruce Dickinson‘s solo endeavors these days.”
“Arrived at Dave Grohl‘s studio right as Bruce was doing some final vocals to his new album. He finished and came out to chat/hang a little but then asked if I wanted to hear a few of the songs…umm, YEA!!”
“I must say besides the fact that he is still singing at the top of his game, the songs, performances, and the overall vibe I got from all was beyond impressive, I think this outing will be one of his strongest ever outside of the Maiden camp.”
“To add frosting on the cake, I got to try a prototype for a new Trooper beer, this one is a nice IPA which I’m normally not a fan of, but this was really good, it’s not out yet so I feel pretty lucky to have tried it before the rest of the world haha”.
Dickinson cut the album live with his current touring outfit, the same players who have been backing him on the road: keyboardist Mistheria, drummer Dave Moreno, bassist Tanya O’Callaghan, and guitarists Chris Declercq and Philip Näslund. Together they pick up the thread from The Mandrake Project, the ambitious concept album Dickinson released in March 2024, as the singer lines up his next chapter away from the Iron Maiden camp.
