Breaking Benjamin have dominated the airwaves of mainstream rock since their outbreak in 2006. Since then, they have followed the same formula found in
Phobia. This album is no exception. However, Breaking Benjamin manages to create an album that fits perfectly in their discography and stands out as one of their best releases.
Following the release of the average
Dark Before Dawn, my expectations for Breaking Benjamin 2.0 were pretty low for their upcoming release
Ember. Although "Red Cold River" provided a great deal of hope for this album as it brought back Benjamin Burnley's powerful screams and a beautifully meshed final chorus of alternating melodies, there was still much to be proven.
The album as a whole is quite spectacular.
Ember features some of Breaking Benjamin's most aggressive work, full to the brim with improved guitar riffs compared to that of their previous release, driving drum beats, and powerful, melodic choruses. Ranging from straight up rockers like "Psycho" to the beautiful ballad "The Dark of You",
Ember manages to remain fairly strong.
As previously stated, this album contains some of Breaking Benjamin's heaviest work. Using their three guitar dynamic, Breaking Benjamin composes choruses mixing both hard hitting guitar riffs with subtle, harmonic guitar leads scattered throughout (such as the chorus of "Red Cold River"). Songs such as "Tourniquet" and "Save Yourself" show the much appreciated improvement in Breaking Benjamin's ability to create riffs of flowing notes that manage to pertain to a heavy atmosphere. On the otherhand, "Close Your Eyes," "Blood," and "Torn in Two" (which are arguably the best songs on the album, save for "The Dark of You") exhibit Breaking Benjamin's songwriting skills of writing heavy, aggressive guitar riffs mixing power chords and notes. Following the patterns of the guitars, the drums and bass enunciate the heaviness, providing the songs with muted bass lines in verses and double bass reliant drums. Although the guitars remain at the forefront of the musical side of the album, the bass and drums share the spotlight throughout the album, most notably in the verses of "Torn in Two."
The one exception to all of this aggressivness is the ballad "The Dark of You." This is where the band really shines. "The Dark of You" is easily one of the best ballads the band has written in quite some time. Flowing with piano driven verses, consistent, fluid drumming, and scattered electric guitar chords, "The Dark of You" moves away from the heaviness of the previous four songs and the later five songs to produce a beautifully written song.
Benjamin Burnley is at the top of his game in this album, performing some of his best vocals in a long time. With the addition of three other musicians to harmonize with Burnley, the choruses on
Ember are beautifully melodic, many times alternating between different chorus harmonies such as on the final choruses of "Feed the Wolf" and "Red Cold River." The choruses of "Torn in Two" and "Save Yourself" exhibit Benjamin Burnley at his peak on the album, showing his dynamic voice moving from aggressive verses to melodic chorus filled with high-hitting notes. Burnley's ability to alternate between screaming and singing is done quite well throughout the album. "Red Cold River" and "Save Yourself" show Burnley's aggressive vocals throughout the prechorus and verses (respectively), giving an added effect to the overall heaviness of the album.
The only drawback to the album is the lyrics. They, as expected, follow the same formula as the previous albums, singing on topics which have already been discussed multiple times throughout the previous albums. Nonetheless, what
Ember lacks in thematic elements, it makes up for in musical aspects.
Although
Ember continues to follow the same formula as always, Breaking Benjamin manage to produce an album that more than makes up for their previous effort, placing it on par with their earlier releases. Burnley, Rauch, and Wallen improved upon
Dark Before Dawn, composing much more technical riffs and powerful choruses, with Bruch and Foist following through with driving bass and drums, respectively. To me,
Ember is one of Breaking Benjamin's best albums, effectively combining the same Breaking Benjamin sound that has become familiar among fans with the newly found aggressive sound that persists throughout the whole album.
