Since more than 35 years, BONFIRE are the embodiment of “Melodic Hard ‘n Heavy made in Germany”. September 22, 2023 will see the band reissue their most iconic albums “Point Blank”, “Fireworks” and “Don’t Touch The Light” as MMXXIII / 2023 re-recording versions with an entirely new artwork.
As one of the group’s founding members and its main composer, Hans Ziller came up with an ambitious idea: How would the songs from those now slightly dated releases sound if they were re-recorded in contemporary studio conditions? This concept was particularly exciting because the band’s current line-up. As Ziller comments: “What we wanted to do was to record the songs as if Bonfire had been a metal band in the Eighties!”
Naturally, you need first-rate musicians for this kind of ambitious, re-recording undertaking, and that’s precisely what BONFIRE mark 2023 have: Young Greek singer DYAN has recently joined the BONFIRE fold. The 30-year-old vocalist is a big BONFIRE fan since his teens, so it was easy for him to cut all the 35 songs from the three cult albums in less than two weeks.
Here’s an advance EP featuring ‘MMXXIII versions‘ containing tracks from the albums “Point Blank”, “Fireworks” and “Don’t Touch The Light”.
Ziller enthuses: “Dyan can simply sing anything, from rock vocals to falsetto. You only have to listen to him to realise that he will excel live.” In addition to Dyan and Ziller, the line-up includes solo guitarist Frank Pané (Valley’s Eve, Sainted Sinners), New York bassist Ronnie Parkes and drummer Fabio Allesandrini (Annihilator).
What literally screams metal by name definitely sounds like it: these recent recordings of “Don’t Touch The Light”, “Fireworks” and “Point Blank” see BONFIRE deliver the timeless material from the original albums in a powerful sound that, despite its unbridled power, has lost none of its musicality and melody.
Ziller: “Of course, we kept to the original arrangements as much as possible, perhaps slightly changing a riff now and then or updating the sound of a guitar part. But all the essential elements, right down to the lyrics, have remained untouched.”
Bonfire - Africa - 2018
Bonfire - Don't Get Me Wrong (MMXXIII Version) - 2023
Bonfire - Eye of the Tiger - 2018
Bonfire - Fantasy (MMXXIII Version) - 2022
Bonfire - Freedom Is My Belief (MMXXIII Version) - 2022
Bonfire – Don’t Get Me Wrong (MMXXIII Version) – 2023 EP
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