Operation: Mindcrime

Geoff Tate was fired from Queensrÿche in 2012, as his relationship with the rest of the band had deteriorated. The acrimonious split caused a considerable amount of discord among fans and major lawsuits began.

Geoff filed suit for wrongful termination while the band counter-sued citing what it alleged as violent behavior by Geoff.

With an ongoing court case over the rights to use the name 'Queensrÿche' going on, Geoff Tate announced his own line-up under the name, leading to two bands using the name while actively touring at the same time.

Geoff Tate's group released the album Frequency Unknown, produced and mixed by Jason Slater, on April 23, 2013 in the U.S.

Although selling well, the release picked up mixed reviews from music critics and somewhat of a fan backlash.

Following a settlement, Geoff Tate was granted the exclusive performance rights to the band's concept albums Operation: Mindcrime (1988), and Operation: Mindcrime II (2006).

Those two releases garnered both critical praise and widespread commercial success for the group, with Tate then serving as its frontman.

In return, musicians Michael Wilton, Scott Rockenfield, Todd La Torre, and Eddie Jackson retained all rights to the 'Queensrÿche' brand.

Geoff Tate was allowed, according to the settlement, to perform with his own line-up under the name 'Queensrÿche' until his tour concluded on August 31, 2014, after which his group announced to adopt the official name 'Operation: Mindcrime'.

The Todd La Torre-fronted Queensrÿche has retained the right to perform material coming from and related to the two Operation: Mindcrime albums live.

This legal set-up is somewhat similar to that of Pink Floyd and their former bandmate Roger Waters, in which both artists have performed songs from The Wall live.

About the group, Geoff has said, "It is so refreshing to be able to concentrate on the many stories and ideas that I have been working on with no boundaries or restrictions.

" He's also remarked, "I think fans will continue to enjoy the music we create and perform together and hope they share this new musical journey with us."

In late 2014, Geoff began working on a new concept album. Planned as a trilogy of albums, he has claimed it as one of his most ambitious works to date.

The band signed a worldwide deal with Frontiers Music Srl for its releases in December 2014.

In 2015, John Moyer, Brian Tichy, and Scott Moughton became members after the departures of Rudy Sarzo and his brother Robert Sarzo.

Their debut album and first of the trilogy, The Key, was released on September 18, 2015.

The album features a guest appearance from Megadeth bassist David Ellefson.

The second album in the trilogy, Resurrection, was released on September 23, 2016 and features guest appearances by Blaze Bayley (Iron Maiden) and Tim "Ripper" Owens, (Judas Priest, Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen) among others.

The third and final album of the trilogy, The New Reality, was released on December 1, 2017.

During promotion of the album, Geoff Tate announced that the album would be the last for the band, saying "This group of musicians was put together specifically for this project...this is the last album of the trilogy and the last album for Operation: Mindcrime."