Breaking Benjamin Puts Angelic Harmonies to Great Use

Breaking Benjamin snatched my attention from the get-go this time around. How so you ask? The Pennsylvanians found their ace in the pocket hole to slide into during "Angels Fall" and maintained mojo throughout. Each peformer does the slow burn to admirable effect. Where to start with acclaim from the blogger view on the hill. Guitar newcomer Jasen Rauch has the smarts to pick out the right searing chords that best accompany the song's spiritually probing subject matter. Vocally Benjamin Burnley goes for the sensitive man playbook, finds the ideal stanzas and leaves doubters in the dust. Shaun Foist deftly drums using a modicum of tact in how he applies his muscle. It's really a nice burst of fresh air to hear a rock song that, front to back is so intelligently constructed. You're mesmerized from word one. There also appears to be a sonic lightness dropped in nicely and in service to the content. Ben isn't beaten down by any stretch, but you hear how long his road has been. Aaron Bruch underscores his bandmate's inner conflict with bass tunefulness that comes off like a brain scan into the most vulnerable parts of Ben's psyche. Looking under the hood I don't hear fatalism but a drop of optimism, the kind where you cling to the faintest of hope even without tangible proof that the circumstances are meant to get better. Ben's choral contribution sells his tensions like no church text ever could. Not even broken winged angels are enough to shake him from his path. Not many would stake their claim on the concept of forever, since we bipeds know nothing lasts that long. Puny brained mortal that I am I can't even wrap my head around how long forever could be. That's a migraine inducing possibility. Ben takes comfort from spending forever, eternity in faith sense with his broken winged beauty. I think his imagery in that stanza points to end of life and how that isn't necessarily the end of everything but the beginning of a new adventure. Added references to a planetary end game take shape from "Grey skies will chase the light away no longer. I fought the fight now only dark remains. Forever. Divided I will stand and I will let this end. Promise of a better world than our shared island home is hinted at. You have to hand it to Ben for not ladling out the melodrama with a giant spoon. Lesser tonsil flashers might have milked the pathos down to the last drop. Ben dials his technique down which allows the other players to penetrate jaded listener defenses. He doesn't lose contact with his audience despite eschewing histrionics. The lungs breathe deeply on this track. The further along it goes the more oxygen we're allowed to take in. I'm happy someone's countering thw finality of human existence with an "Ah, but wait." That intimates the story of each one of us doesn't stop with the mortal coil. "Angels Fall" was meant to fly and does so regularly. Breaking Benjamin proves that even broken wings ultimately clean up good.