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Photo Credit: Leonard Ludwig

On September 22, 2023, iconic German Heavy Metal act BONFIRE released 2023 (MMXXIII) versions of their first three studio albums. Don't Touch The Light (1986), Fireworks (1987), and Point Blank (1989). This trio of albums spawned a lot of memorable material from the band, most of which they still play in their live sets today. However, this material has been long out of print.

Guitarist and founding member Hans Ziller continues to wave the flag for BONFIRE, as members have come and gone around him. In addition to revisiting BONFIRE's early material, and getting ready to work on the band's next studio album, Ziller is in the middle of penning his memoir.

The story of how BONFINE came to re-record their first three studio albums is not quite as simple as you would expect. Re-recording old material is certainly not a new trend among veteran bands, but it does come with the obvious criticisms and conjecture. The band's reasoning makes perfect sense considering their history and navigation through the music business of the early eighties.

I had the chance to catch up with bassist RONNIE PARKES to discuss the new BONFIRE releases. Parkes also discusses, the addition of vocalist Rian Mair, Ziller's upcoming the book and his struggles with bipolar disorder, the possibility of BONFIRE in the USA, ACCEPT rejecting them as openers, how Parkes was recruited in 2015, the chaos surrounding David Reece's dismissal in 2016, and much much more.

https://www.bonfire.de/

Related content:
2020 - BONFIRE - Fistful of Fire review HERE
2018 - BONFIRE - Temple of Lies review HERE