Published: August 22, 2026 · 12:47 AM EDT
The former Accept singer re-records the 1989 track with a heavier, keyboard-free arrangement featuring Alcatrazz and Warlord vocalist Giles Lavery on background vocals
Bangalore Choir have released “Prisoner” as a new single, revisiting a song vocalist David Reece originally recorded with Accept for the German heavy metal band’s 1989 album Eat the Heat.
The Bangalore Choir version of “Prisoner” appears on Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II, released through BraveWords Records on October 24, 2025.
The new single gives fresh attention to one of the most recognizable connections between Reece’s current work with Bangalore Choir and his brief but significant period fronting Accept.
This version also features Giles Lavery on background vocals. Lavery currently fronts both Alcatrazz and Warlord and co-produced Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II with Reece.
The original “Prisoner” was recorded during Reece’s tenure as vocalist for Accept and released on Eat the Heat in 1989.
Produced by Dieter Dierks, Eat the Heat remains the only Accept studio album to feature Reece as lead vocalist.
The record marked a distinctive chapter in Accept’s history and included songs such as “X-T-C,” “Generation Clash,” “D-Train,” “Hellhammer” and “Prisoner.”
More than three decades later, Reece returned to “Prisoner” while recording Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II with Bangalore Choir.
Speaking with Sleaze Roxx in April 2026, Reece explained that the new recording was deliberately made heavier and without the keyboards heard in the original version.
Reece said the guitar-driven approach brought the song closer to how he now believes it should have sounded and credited Giles Lavery with encouraging him to revisit the track.
The result is not simply a reproduction of the 1989 recording. Bangalore Choir reshape “Prisoner” around a heavier arrangement while retaining the song that connects Reece directly to one of the most debated periods in Accept’s catalog.
Reece joined Accept following the departure of longtime vocalist Udo Dirkschneider and recorded Eat the Heat with the band before leaving at the end of that chapter.
He subsequently formed Bangalore Choir, whose debut album On Target arrived through Giant Records in 1992.
The album established Bangalore Choir within the melodic hard rock scene and became the foundation for a catalog Reece would return to decades later.
That history is directly reflected in the title Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II.
Reece has explained that the album was conceived as a continuation of the musical spirit of On Target, requiring him to reconnect with the songwriting approach and influences that surrounded Bangalore Choir’s early years.
The inclusion of “Prisoner” extends that concept even further back, linking the modern Bangalore Choir to Reece’s years with Accept before On Target existed.
Rockum documented this stage of Reece’s career before Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II was released.
In an exclusive interview published on August 21, 2025, David Reece spoke with Gino Alache about Bangalore Choir’s return, the connection between the new record and On Target, his work with Giles Lavery and the musical path that took him from Accept’s Eat the Heat to the latest Bangalore Choir chapter.
During that conversation, Reece also discussed why he chose to continue the On Target story more than three decades after the original album and reflected on his journey through Accept, Bangalore Choir and other stages of his career.
The release of “Prisoner” as a single now adds another direct connection between those two major chapters of Reece’s history.
The new Bangalore Choir single also arrives during Accept’s 50th anniversary year.
Accept will release Teutonic Titans 1976–2026 on September 4, 2026 through Napalm Records, bringing together 50 guest musicians across 19 newly reimagined songs from the band’s catalog.
The anniversary project spans material from Accept’s formative years through Eat the Heat.
Significantly, “Hellhammer” - another song from the Reece-fronted 1989 album - is being revisited for Teutonic Titans 1976–2026.
The new version features Jason McMaster on vocals alongside musicians including Wolf Hoffmann, Martin Motnik, Philip Shouse and Christopher Williams.
Reece is not part of Accept’s current lineup or anniversary project, but Bangalore Choir’s release of “Prisoner” places another Eat the Heat song back into the spotlight during the same year Accept are revisiting their five-decade history.
Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II was released through BraveWords Records on October 24, 2025.
The 16-track album was produced by David Reece and Giles Lavery and divided into two eight-song acts, with “Prisoner” opening the album’s second half.
Act 1
01. How Does It Feel
02. Driver’s Seat
03. Love And War
04. I Never Meant To
05. I’m Headed For
06. Bullet Train
07. Swimming With The Shark
08. The Light
Act 2
09. Prisoner
10. The Beauty
11. Sail On
12. Trouble With The Truth
13. Still The Same
14. Blinded By Fire In The Sky
15. Rock Of Ages
16. Mending Fences
BANGALORE CHOIR - RAPID FIRE SUCCESSION LINEUP
David Reece - Vocals
Diego Pires - Lead and Rhythm Guitars
Eric Juris - Lead and Rhythm Guitars
Andy Susemihl - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals
Mario Percudani - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals
Riccardo Demarosi - Bass, Backing Vocals
Nello Savinelli - Drums
Guest appearances:
Jimmy Waldo - Keyboards
Ferdy Doernberg - Keyboards
The album was engineered by Riccardo Demorossi and mixed and mastered by Thomas Mergler at Tom’s Soundranch.
Bangalore Choir are also already moving into their next studio chapter. The band will release Payload on November 6, 2026 through El Puerto Records.
Announced in August, the 12-track record will be Bangalore Choir’s sixth studio album and features a lineup of David Reece on vocals, Andy Susemihl and Steve Gordon MIA on guitars, Tommy McWilliams on drums and Gorka Alegre on bass.
The timing places the “Prisoner” single at an interesting intersection in the band’s current activity: BraveWords Records is continuing to spotlight material from Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II while Bangalore Choir are already preparing the next full-length chapter of their catalog.
The release of “Prisoner” as a Bangalore Choir single brings together two distinct periods in David Reece’s career.
The song first entered his catalog with Accept on Eat the Heat in 1989. More than three decades later, Reece returned to it with Bangalore Choir, stripping away the keyboards, increasing the guitar weight and approaching the track from a different musical perspective.
Its arrival as a single in 2026 gives that re-recording a life beyond its place on Rapid Fire Succession: On Target Part II while reconnecting Reece with an Accept album that remains a unique chapter in both his career and the German band’s history.
With Accept celebrating 50 years and Bangalore Choir already preparing Payload, “Prisoner” now sits between the past and the next chapter of Reece’s career.
Written by Gino Alache – Music Journalist
IMAGE CREDIT: David Reece
Watch Bangalore Choir’s “Prisoner” below:
