BONFIRE – The Räuber

The roots of the legendary German band Bonfire goes way back to the 70s. During the 80s the band gained a wide reputation around the globe, thanks to a great number of fantastic albums such as Fireworks and Don’t Touch The Light, just to mention a few. Sadly, the band never reached the top due to a lot of line-up changes and troubles with the record company. However, Bonfire never actually quit and released a shitload of records during the 90s. Now in 2008, they have released a very new effort entitled The Räuber. The Räuber is an album based on Fredrik Schiller’s Storm and Stress drama Die Räuber. The idea to make this record came from director Pierre Walter Politz who felt that Bonfire should write a new album in the style of classic Bonfire sound and then perform these songs together with him in Theatres as a Rock Opera.

The album opens up with the quite dark and strange intro that lasts for less than a minute and it’s also the title track of this record. It builds up a tension before letting the anger out in the opening riff of the following track “Bells Of Freedom.” It’s quite heavy from the beginning before the more Melodic overall sound comes during the verse and chorus. This one features a very catchy refrain with simple lyrics that will win the hearts of the audience for sure! “Bells Of Freedom” is the stellar highlight of this record; a fantastic song! The next track is called “Refugee Of Fate,” which also is a track that brings back the memories of true Bonfire music. It’s a fantastic Melodic Rock tune with great melody and a simple sing-a-long chorus.

On this effort they have included some songs that are sung in German as well, and it works just fine. The song “Blut Und Tod” is one of those tracks. It’s a simple rocker, not as good as the two already mentioned songs and it becomes a little nowhere-going in the end. The following song “Love Don’t Lie” is a ballad in true Bonfire style with great melodies and a chorus that sticks like glue. From the beginning it sounds fantastic, but when the awfully produced drums are added it becomes a little disappointing. The song could easily have been shorter, and counting almost six minutes it turns totally uninteresting during the last two minutes where the same chord-progression goes over and over again.

A tune worthy to be mentioned is “Black Night,” which is a song that takes the same direction as the opener “Bells Of Freedom.” Once again the terrible production tears some great music apart. But, this time it is not only a disappointment; it becomes irritating as well!

During the 71-minutes this record lasts a feeling of disappointment grows in you. Sure there are some great compositions here, but there are also far too many weak moments. The production, which actually could remind you of the Fair Warning release from 2006 entitled Brother’s Keeper, is the leading reason that this album becomes boring too often. There is no punch or intensity. There have actually been made demo recordings with much better production than this album. The drums sound like cardboard boxes, and the bass guitar sounds like it’s hidden in a cellar. Fortunately, the guitars have seen one of the producer’s better days, and that tosses a little light over the futile overall production of The Räuber.

A band that has made so much great music throughout their career should be able to make a much better record than what this effort presents. It’s not among the great moments of Bonfire so far and it is far from being among the greatest Melodic Rock releases this year.