The highly anticipated third and final chapter of the Operation: Mindcrime saga is almost complete.
In a recent interview with Ernest Skinner on the “Border City Rock Talk” podcast, Scottish guitarist Kieran Robertson—who plays in former Queensrÿche vocalist Geoff Tate‘s solo band—gave a concrete update on the recording sessions.
According to Robertson, the album is currently in the mixing phase. He, Geoff, and producer/bassist John Moyer (of Disturbed) are making the final tweaks to the record and expect to have it fully wrapped up within the next month.
“Yeah, super finishing touches. It’s me, Geoff, [Disturbed bassist] John Moyer [who is producing the effort] and then obviously all the other amazing musicians who have played on it. But right now it’s just me, Geoff and John going over the final, final touches of the mixing and stuff. So we were a couple of days in Texas. We were just adding some new stuff. And then we have two days off at the end of this tour, [and we’re] going to San Francisco to finalize it. So I’m fairly confident within the next month we’ll have a… I mean, I’ve got the songs. It’s really minimal things now. It’s, like, ‘That snare drum needs to come out or [be] turn[ed] up.’ But in terms of listening to the album, yeah, it’s killer,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
When asked about the musical direction of Operation: Mindcrime III, Robertson explained that the production team intentionally looked back to the original 1988 Queensrÿche masterpiece rather than its 2006 follow-up, Operation: Mindcrime II. The goal was to capture the classic vibe while giving it a much heavier, modern sonic punch:
“That’s a good question, man. I really like Operation: Mindcrime II as well. What we tried to do, and me and John spoke about that, is we wanna bring you back to the Mindcrime I universe with a modern feel — just modern as in the drums sound bigger. Operation: Mindcrime is a very sort of tinny-sounding album. It’s an incredible album, but just [by] today’s standards, now this album’s gonna have some bottom end and some punch. But I think definitely Operation: Mindcrime I would be, from my standpoint of writing it and production, that’s where my head was.”
As for the final tracklist, things are still slightly up in the air. Robertson noted that while they have a solid batch of songs ready to go, the final decision rests solely with Geoff Tate:
“Right now we’re still sort of deciding that. Right now, in a Dropbox folder, I have about 10 songs. That’s what we’re kind of working with right now. It could be more, could be less. That’s up to the big boss man to decide. I just submit them.”
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 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.”
Musically, the shift to a more aggressive protagonist seems to be influencing the composition. When asked if the new material serves as a throwback to the complex, heavy style of early Queensrÿche, Tate agreed, promising a sound that diehard fans will recognize.
“Yeah, I guess so. It’s got some complex arrangements, which Queensrÿche was pretty into during our writing. It’s just very aggressive sound-wise. And stylistically, I would say, it’s very Queensrÿche.”
For Tate, revisiting the Mindcrime universe isn’t just about nostalgia; it is an extension of his lifelong interest in sociology and psychology. 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.”
