Wilkes-Barre, PA · hard rock · post-grunge

Breaking Benjamin

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Pennsylvania's reliably heavy melodic rock — brooding verses, enormous choruses, and a catalogue that never chased a trend because the formula never stopped working.

Breaking Benjamin was formed in 1999 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, by singer and guitarist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel, later joined by guitarist Aaron Fink and bassist Mark James Klepaski. The name came from an incident in which Burnley broke a borrowed microphone and its owner blamed him for it; Burnley kept promotional stickers bearing the phrase and reused it after an earlier band folded. A local radio DJ's support for the song "Polyamorous" helped fund their first EP.

Their music is post-grunge and alternative metal: down-tuned riffs, quiet-loud dynamics, and choruses written for large rooms, with Burnley alternating between a clean tenor and a harsher growl.

The original lineup released Saturate in 2002 and We Are Not Alone in 2004 before Hummel was replaced by Chad Szeliga in 2005, with Phobia (2006) and Dear Agony (2009) following. Burnley's recurring illness pushed the band into an extended hiatus in 2010, during which an unauthorized compilation, Shallow Bay, led to a legal dispute and the departure of Fink and Klepaski, and Szeliga later left as well.

Burnley rebuilt the band in 2014 with bassist Aaron Bruch, guitarists Keith Wallen and Jasen Rauch, and drummer Shaun Foist. Dark Before Dawn (2015) and Ember (2018) debuted at number one and number three on the Billboard 200, and a further compilation, Aurora, followed in 2020 with reworked acoustic versions and one new song. The band's approach has stayed largely unchanged across their catalogue, and in the United States they have sold more than 19 million units.

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hard rockpost-grunge