Breaking Benjamin: Ember

Breaking Benjamin: Ember Review written by Robin Ervolina
Pennsylvania rockers Breaking Benjamin will release their sixth full length album, Ember, on April 13, 2018, and fans should brace themselves. Those familiar with Benjamin Burnley's firm grip on the creative process are about to discover what it sounds like when Ben loosens those reigns. Spoiler alert: Ember is on fire.
For those unfamiliar with Breaking Benjamin (really?) a little explanation goes a long way to explaining why Ember deserves glowing praise. Frontman Benjamin Burnley has been the driving force behind his moniker-anointed band since it formed in 1999, and has written and composed every song in the band's catalogue. This control and formula have earned Breaking Benjamin two platinum albums and multiple chart-topping hits.
But Ember ... Ember is a special child. For this sixth CD, fellow band members Jason Rauch (guitar), Keith Wallen (guitar), Aaron Bruch (bass), and Shaun Foist (drums) played a heavy hand in the melodic development. Bruch even penned the music and lyrics to the chorus of first release "Red Cold River." Says Burnley,

"I wrote the majority of our last five albums, and so I'm good with that -- you know, that's enough for me. Five albums pretty much by myself -- I'm ready to pass it along. It's more fun when you're not doing everything by yourself."

So what's the same? The undeniable Breaking Benjamin sound is intact. Melodies are anthemic, carefully constructed masterpieces of sound and mood. The lyrics are enigmatic, allowing the listener to pull words to weave into their own experience. What's different? That's clear 30 seconds into Ember. The CD opens with a short instrumental, much like 2015's Dark Before Dawn and 2006's Phobia, before second track "Feed The Wolf" blazes in. Burnley's vocals, instantly recognizable, are more raw, almost merciless in delivery. It's powerful, deeper and grittier than we've heard from him in over a decade. Growling, nay howling, vocals stacked over and under him are eerie, demanding all hairs stand at attention. Instrumentally, the band is in overdrive. The crunching guitar work and frenzied rhythm section push this CD into new territory.

"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. On Ember, 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." 

Ember plays best as a collective experience, to be listened to as a whole, from beginning to end. And while maybe not meant to contain any standout tunes, a few tracks burn a little brighter. Ballad "The Dark of You" is an ethereal feast of harmony and melody. It's yearning and tender without being formulaic and expected. "Red Cold River" comes in like a ballad, then drops the aggression hard. Ben's vocals in the verses are hypnotic, setting you up for the venomous strike of the chorus. "Red Cold River" is the cobra and the charmer all wrapped up in one. "Psycho" almost gets lost as this wildfire of a CD burns out of control, but it is perhaps their most ambitious tune to date. Pay particular attention to Rauche's explosive riffs. It's a masters class in technical precision meets divine inspiration.
When asked the significance of the title, the ever-esoteric Burnley states, "An ember can either be the end of something or the beginning of it." This feels like the beginning of something new, and yet Breaking Benjamin has successfully navigated nearly two decades of ever evolving rock, simply by adapting to their surroundings. Maybe the significance of the title is that an ember can be contained and carried to another location, where a new fire can burn and flourish. If that's the case, Ember is the perfect description of Breaking Benjamin too.