STREAMING: Wilkes-Barre’s Breaking Benjamin sheds ‘Blood’ in heavy new track
Multi-platinum rock band Breaking Benjamin is less than two months away from releasing their next album, “Ember,” and the Wilkes-Barre group been putting out singles since January in anticipation of their sixth full-length through Hollywood Records.
The third new song, “Blood,” was made public today, another heavy track from what the band has promised will be a heavier record. In recent interviews, vocalist/guitarist Benjamin Burnley has said that he knows what works with their sound and what resonates with fans.
“People have always really liked the heavier side of the band. I think that’s what they sort of gravitate towards. But we also make sure to explore our melodic and softer side, too,” he explained. “We just tried to make it more extreme – the softer side on this album is really soft, and the heavy side is really heavy. We decided to give everybody what they want to the furthest degree.”
In January, Breaking Benjamin debuted a cinematic music video for “Ember’s” lead single, “Red Cold River,” and followed it up by streaming another new song, “Feed the Wolf,” just a week later after the “Red Cold River” video reached 500,000 views; it has now surpassed four million views.
This is the first new music the popular band has released since 2015, so anticipation has been high. Breaking Benjamin has been producing nothing but hits for years, delivering chart-topping singles and albums in an era where rock music is struggling for sales. Their last album, 2015’s “Dark Before Dawn,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and had three No. 1 rock radio tracks – “Failure” “Angels Fall,” and “Never Again.” It was certified gold last year and may eventually go platinum, as 2009’s “Dear Agony” did as well as 2006’s “Phobia” and 2004’s “We Are Not Alone.” Their debut album, 2002’s “Saturate,” was certified gold by the RIAA.
With pre-orders being taken now via iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, and Google Play, “Ember” is due out Friday, April 13. The full tracklist is below:
Breaking Benjamin – “Ember” tracklist:
1. “Lyra”
2. “Feed the Wolf”
3. “Red Cold River”
4. “Tourniquet”
5. “Psycho”
6. “The Dark of You”
7. “Down”
8. “Torn in Two”
9. “Blood”
10. “Save Yourself”
11. “Close Your Eyes”
12. “Vega”
The group recently completed a North American tour with Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet for My Valentine, and they’re slated to appear at many major music festivals this spring, including Welcome to Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, and Rock on the Range.
Read NEPA Scene’s exclusive review of Breaking Benjamin’s surprise November show in Luzerne with photos and video here and another review of their last Scranton concert with Disturbed here.
