Former Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate has officially confirmed the impending release of Operation: Mindcrime III, marking the third and final chapter in his legendary conceptual album series. Slated for a May release, the highly anticipated record will be preceded by its lead single, “Power“, which is expected to drop next week.
During a recent interview with Canada’s “The Metal Voice,” the veteran vocalist detailed his motivations for returning to the iconic storyline, which follows the narratives established in 1988’s Operation: Mindcrime and 2006’s Operation: Mindcrime II.
“I’m interested in it. It’s a subject I’ve always been interested in, the Mindcrime saga, the story of these three characters, really: Nikki, Dr. X and Sister Mary. A fascinating triangle there of… Oh, it’s an interesting relationship between all three of them. And Nikki‘s story has really been kind of chronicled on Mindcrime I and Mindcrime II, and nothing has really been written about Dr. X. Like, who is he? What’s he all about? Why is he the way he is? What got him to this place he’s at? And I just found the subject to be interesting. And especially at the age I’m at now, where I’m probably very close to Dr. X‘s age, I’m looking at life differently now, and [I have] different goals, [and I have] a different reason to be, really, which I think probably happens with people as they age and get older. You’ve had past accomplishments, you’ve had things that you’ve done that you’ve really been interested, and you’ve followed your dreams, you followed your muse, and now you’re at a different place where those wants and needs kind of change. So Dr. X is a character study, really, of where he is at and how he got to where he is.”
When asked if the new album serves as a prequel or a direct continuation of the first two records, the singer clarified the timeline:
“It’s kind of a — hmm, I’d say it’s in the same universe, but a different perspective. It’s X‘s perspective. It’s happening in time at the same time as Mindcrime I.”
Discussing the musical direction and whether the upcoming release matches the heaviness of the 1988 original, Geoff noted:
“Oh, yes. The new one is probably, I guess in the same realm. It’s heavier than Mindcrime I. I don’t know. I’d have to go back and listen to it again, Mindcrime II, to see where it compared in the heaviness scale.”
Concluding with his expectations for the record, the frontman praised the modern production quality, specifically highlighting the work of producer and Disturbed bassist John Moyer.
“I just hope everybody can give it a spin, check it out. And especially with headphones. It’s a wonderful headphone album. Absolutely. We spent a lot of time dialing all the details in that I find to be very important with the record, is it’s gotta sound good on headphones. And it really sounds great with the mixing and the engineering on it. John did an amazing job putting it all together, and the sound, especially of the rhythm section — oh, it’s phenomenal. It’s really, really crunchy, punchy, big… I think it’s miles above Mindcrime I — absolutely. Especially the bottom end — the bass and drums, rhythm section. It’s so modern, so huge. If you listen back to the Mindcrime I album, it sounds like… I think it was one of the three first digital recordings made, and so it has a brittleness to it that you just don’t hear anymore, ’cause the technology has gotten so much better now. The analog-to-digital converters are so much more sophisticated now. So, yeah, it sounds miles about that. I’m very happy, very happy with it.”
Earlier in January, while speaking to “Meltdown” of Detroit’s WRIF radio station, Tate explained that shift in point-of-view of new album will result in a much darker, more assertive record.
“And Dr. X‘s perspective is completely different, ’cause he’s not the victim at all. So it’s very aggressive, and, yeah, I’m looking forward for people to hear it,” Tate told the at the time.
“[It will tell the tale from] the perspective of Dr. X, how the story happened from his point of view. Which is kind of interesting, I think, because we’ve only heard it from Nikki‘s point of view, and he’s been sort of this victim throughout the whole story.”
He clarified that the expansion into a trilogy wasn’t always the master plan, but rather a natural evolution of his curiosity about human behavior.
“No, it’s kind of an ongoing story. I am fascinated by social science — why human beings do what we do, and groups of people that seem to have patterns over time, following in the footsteps of their generation. That kind of stuff just is fascinating to me. And so that was the basis for the story of Operation: Mindcrime. And so I just kind of explored that — human nature and what happens to a guy who gets convicted of m*rder and sent to an insane asylum and then graduates to a prison and then finally gets out after 20 years in prison. Does he still have the motivation for revenge against the people that put him there? That’s kind of the focus of Mindcrime II, the revenge aspect of it.”
