Tate records 2nd Mindcrime album

Operation: Mindcrime mainman Geoff Tate says his planned album trilogy is on schedule.

When the former Queensryche frontman signed with Frontiers Music Srl in 2014, he revealed plans to record material in the spirit of his former group’s 1988 and 2006 Operation: Mindcrime projects.

And, with the band’s debut The Key set for release on September 18, Tate says the group are now deep into the trilogy project.

The singer tells Sonic Abuse: “The second album is recorded, so we’re just getting ready to mix that right now, and the third album is mostly recorded – we’ve still got a couple of tracks left to do.

“We’re still in the development stage with that record. But we’ll be done with the whole project by October. That’s my plan.”

Tate says the process of putting together three albums in close proximity has been “challenging and fun” and adds: “It’s a lot of music – but I had a lot of stuff I’d been collecting and working on over the years. Little bits and pieces that have found their way into these recordings.

“I have a lot to say, musically at least, so it was a good time to do it.”

Following a settlement with Queensryche over ownership rights to the brand, Tate was given exclusive rights to perform both Mindcrime albums in their entirety.

The Key tracklist

01. Choices 02. Burn 03. Re-Inventing The Future 04. Ready To Fly 05. Discussions In A Smoke Filled Room 06. Life or Death? 07. The Stranger 08. Hearing Voice 09. On Queue 10. An Ambush Of Sadness 11. Kicking In The Door 12. The Fall

Tate feared he'd be cut adrift by name change