I've never personally used a recovery image to restore Windows 8 before, but I'll make a stab at this.
I was going to suggest using DISM until I read you have a recimg file to use. So here it goes...
If you have a USB installer drive of Windows 8 or a DVD (if not, you can use WinPE or make a recovery disk from a working Windows 8 PC, not too difficult) you'll have the option of refreshing your PC. If using the installer, you'll need to hit the Repair your computer link at the installation window. If using the recovery disk (easiest method I suggest to use), you'll have to navigate to advanced tools to get to Refresh your PC. It theoretically should prompt you to give the directory of the recimg file and do its magic. I THINK I once used this a couple of years ago with iffy success.
Personally, I would avoid using OEM recimg files as they still contain bloatware. If this were me, I'd grab me an .iso image of Windows 8 Core and just reinstall fresh with clean and crisp Windows.