Review Summary: The debut album from one of the last decade's most polarizing rock bands gets a new coat of paint.
Let me save you some time right away: if you're somebody who hated Black Veil Brides when they were first formed back in 2009, whether it be for their songwriting style, aesthetic look of the band themselves, their dedicated and vocal fan base, or front man Andy Biersack's rather unique singing voice, then this modern re-master of their controversial 2010 debut, 'We Stitch These Wounds' is not going to make a fan out of you. However, if you viewed Black Veil Brides as a misguided new band with potential for greater heights than what they were achieving, then 'Re-Stitch These Wounds' may be exactly what you didn't know you needed.
Right away you'll notice that BVB made very little changes to the compositional makeup of the songs themselves. The spoken word opener 'The Outcasts (Reborn)' has a much more dramatic instrumentation than the original, and that's one of the more noticeable changes. Another thing you're likely to notice right away is the updated, modern feel to the production, which can both be a blessing and a curse. One of the best things about the new production is how improved Biersack sounds, with both clean vocals and screamed ones. In 2010, Biersack's screams were so heavily altered in production that you'd be lucky to even understand his lyrics. Thankfully, this is a problem that has mostly been remedied these years later. Where the production starts the falter is in the instrumentation, particularly the drumming, which has a tendency to overpower the guitars during solos.
One of the smartest decisions BVB could've made was to scrap the abysmally out of place song, 'The Mortician's Daughter,' and that's exactly what they have done. The song still exists in essence, but it's been rewritten to be purely instrumental and to serve more as a mid-album interlude than an actual song itself. Again, this decision cannot be praised enough. Though one could still debate over the necessity of this new version as well, there's no debate over which version flows well with the remainder of the album.
If you were a fan of Black Veil Brides ten years ago and you've since fallen disillusioned with the band in the years that followed, then I urge you to give this a try. As is the case with remasters of any medium though, this isn't likely to garner the band any new fans. Though for anybody giving this band a try for the first time, there's no doubt that 'Re-Stitch These Wounds' is the definitive way to experience their debut.
