How Does Lamb of God’s Remixed and Remastered Version of “Purified” Compare to the Original?

As we first learned last month, Lamb of God will soon release a tenth anniversary edition of their modern classic, As the Palaces Burn. This version of the album will features, according to a press release, “a full-on, ass kicking remix and remaster” by Josh Wilbur, who also produced the band’s two most recent albums, Wrath and Resolution. “The remixed version of Palaces,” the press release continues, “is now how [Lamb of God] had originally intended it to [sound].”

I’m always a little wary when an artist or artists tinker with his or her or their work, because they often pull a George Lucas and totally fuck it up. So now that Revolver has premiered the remixed and remastered version of the Palaces track “Purified,” we can compare and contrast the original version of the song with the updated version.

So here’s the original, which was mixed by Shaun Thingvold and mastered by Louie Teran…

…and here’s the one which has been remixed and remastered by Josh Wilbur:

The Wilburized version definitely sounds crisper and just plain old bigger; John Campbell’s also rattles balls in a much bigger way than the original version. While I maintain that Palaces‘  imperfections are part of what make it the album we know and love, there is no egregious offense here. If you’d played me both versions ten years ago, before Palaces was released, I suspect I would have preferred Wilbur’s version. Context is everything.

The now-even-more-firey As the Palaces Burn comes out November 11 on Prosthetic/Razor & Tie. Pre-order it here.