Breaking Benjamin - Dark Before Dawn (2015)

Dark Before Dawn is the fifth album by American rock band Breaking Benjamin, released on June 23, 2015 by Hollywood Records. It is the group's first studio album following the band's hiatus lasting from early 2010 to late 2014, and the first album to feature an entirely different lineup alongside founder and frontman Benjamin Burnley. Produced and composed by Burnley, the album took shape towards the end of the hiatus and was mostly written before the new lineup "even played a single note together." The recording process took place afterwards at both a personal studio of Burnley's and at the same studio Phobia (2006) was recorded, with all of the band members performing their respective instruments, including background vocals performed by guitarist Keith Wallen and bassist Aaron Bruch, making the record their first to feature vocals other than Burnley's.

The album was a critical and commercial success. It garnered mostly positive reception, many critics praising the album for staying true to the group's established sound, although others criticized it for sounding too similar to previous material. Burnley described that he did not want to "reinvent the wheel" with the album. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the group's first in their catalog, earning 141,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, making it heretofore the group's most successful sales effort. The album's lead single is "Failure", which was announced alongside the album on March 18, 2015.

Benjamin Burnley – lead vocals, guitar, string arrangement
Jasen Rauch – guitar
Keith Wallen – guitar, backing vocals
Aaron Bruch – bass, backing vocals
Shaun Foist – drums, percussion

Additional musicians
Rhiannon Burnley – backing vocals on "Dawn"
Dave Eggar – cello on "Ashes of Eden"
Katie Kresek – violin on "Ashes of Eden"

Track List:
01. Dark - 2:10
02. Failure - 3:34
03. Angels Fall - 3:48
04. Breaking The Silence - 3:01
05. Hollow - 3:51
06. Close To Heaven - 4:09
07. Bury Me Alive - 4:04
08. Never Again - 3:43
09. The Great Divide - 4:12
10. Ashes Of Eden - 4:53
11. Defeated - 3:25
12. Dawn - 1:52