Axel Mackenrott (6 September 1969 in Hamburg, Germany) is the keyboard player for the heavy metal band Masterplan. Axel began playing at around 11 years of age with piano lessons, and went on to eventually acquire a Bachelor of Arts in musical sciences. In his early career he played in many small-time bands and cover bands, before he was invited to play keyboards on tour with Gamma Ray. His career began to gather momentum when he was brought into the power metal supergroup Masterplan, shortly after the recordings for their debut album were completed.