REVIEW: Breaking Benjamin – Ember
On Friday, April 13, Breaking Benjamin released their sixth studio album, Ember. Featuring 12 tracks, including the single “Red Cold River,” Ember is a powerful exhibition of Breaking Benjamin’s potential in both performance and songwriting. Unlike their previous album, Dark Before Dawn, Ember attempts to tackle heavier issues in its songs, such as identity, mental health, and morality while lead singer Benjamin Burnley explores a new depth to his vocal abilities. For longtime fans of Breaking Benjamin and first time listeners of modern rock, Ember holds a compelling and moving collection of songs that will not disappoint.
Of the 12 tracks on the album, two are the customary album intro and outro. The intro track, “Lyra,” is a 30-second piano piece that sets the album’s ambient and somber presence, as well as leads listeners into the heavier songs with swelling guitars. The outro track “Vega” covers a wider variety of instruments, including drums and a guitar riff. The outro sends off the listeners with a strong but unfortunate end of what sounds like a cliffhanger. Also interesting to note: the intro and outro tracks are appropriately titled “Lyra” and “Veg,”–in the constellation of Lyra lies the star Vega, indicating that the album has come back full circle in its conclusion.
The ten tracks in between make up the body and structure of Ember, bringing with them incredibly strong and meaningful lyrics and performances by Burnley. The third track and lead single of the album, “Red Cold River,” stands in the spotlight, with an accompanying music video that depicts a father avenging the death of his young daughter. It serves as one of the darkest songs on the album, dense and angst-ridden, yet melodic in an eerie way.
“Psycho” continues the album on the same heavy and meaningful note. It is a song that attempts to make sense of mental illness and delves deep into Burnley’s own experience with the subject. Although it is still musically forceful, the song’s weight mainly comes from the lyrics.
“Feed the Wolf,” “Tourniquet,” and “Blood” are other notable songs in the album through which Burnley expresses his angry and difficult struggles with identity over the years. These songs almost allow Burnley to display his lyrical creativity and vocals, from utilizing falsetto in the chorus of “Feeding the Wolf” to showing off his screaming in “Tourniquet.”
Lastly, like in previous Breaking Benjamin albums, there is a ballad that lies in the middle of the album. “Dark of You” is the most memorable and touching songs in the album, if not one of the best songs Breaking Benjamin has ever produced. It has a soft backing track and the vocals sound ethereal and eerily light. However, the lyrics are what truly touches and resonates with listeners. Breaking Benjamin is no stranger to singing about death, but “Dark of You” brings a new perspective of the world left behind by death. The track is a sharp contrast and an incredible breath of fresh air in this otherwise hard-hitting album.
Ember may not be of a completely new mindset or realm from Breaking Benjamin’s older albums, but it is an album that caters to the fans’ musical desires of the band and expands on Burnley’s talents as a singer and songwriter. Compared to other albums, Ember may sound similar, but it contains some of Breaking Benjamin’s best songs to date and explores subjects that they never dared to before. At the very least, Ember’s music and lyrics will definitely spark thought and conversation with lifelong rock fans and newcomers alike.
-Lyssa Lai