Breaking Benjamin
Phobia

THE REVIEW

Year of publication: 2006
Label: Hollywood
Genre: Post-Grunge
Duration: 46’ 26’’

Tracklist:

1. Intro [1.13]
2. The Diary Of Jane [3.23]
3. Breath [3.38]
4. You [3.21]
5. Evil Angel [3.46]
6. Until The End [4.11]
7. Dance With The Devil [3.45]
8. Topless [3.00]
9. Here We Are [4.17]
10. Unknown Soldier [3.46]
11. Had Enough [3.47]
12. You Fight Me [3.09]
13. Outro [2.04]
14. The Diary Of Jane (Acoustic Version) [3.06]

From Ashes to Glory

It’s the last months of 2000 when Aaron Fink and Mark James Klepaski, guitarist and bassist of Lifer, an alternative-metal group, decide to leave the band and form a new ensemble along with singer Ben Burnley, known to Fink during high school, and Jeremy Hummel on drums. Initially, they decide to call themselves Plan 9, but then the current name Breaking Benjamin takes over.
They release their first album in 2002, after a few promotional EPs, under the aegis of Hollywood. “Saturate” achieves good success, and the BB start touring America, supporting bands like Evanescence, 3 Doors Down, and Godsmack. In 2004, they release the album that further cements their fame, “We Are Not Alone”, which is immediately followed, for reasons still unclear, by Hummel’s departure and immediate replacement by Chad Szeliga, the former drummer of Sw1tched.
The choice of the two founding members to leave Lifer is mainly driven by the desire to move from the “flatness” of Alternative to the rawness and expressiveness of Post-Grunge. All members declare that they were great listeners of Pearl Jam and Nirvana in their teenage years, but their music does not turn out to be a simple copy-paste, as we’ve become accustomed to in this panorama; instead, there’s the introduction of lower tuning and slightly more marked melodies.
And here they are in 2006, releasing their new album, Phobia. Will it continue their ascent or be a step back in the quest for Europe?

Phobia: different styles, fears, and emotions.

The album, it must be said, starts a bit slow, with an “Intro” that could have easily been skipped. A minute of urban noises, arpeggios, and standardized voices: it would have been better combined with the second track, the album’s first real song.
“The Diary Of Jane” is the angry story of a relationship filled with misunderstandings and dissatisfaction, with a catchy chorus and some not-bad screaming interludes. It slightly suffers from repetitiveness, but otherwise, it’s very listenable and stays in your head.
“Breath” is one of the finest tracks on the album, with an excellent bass line and full grunge chords. Ben’s vocals are well-expressed in this story of ungrateful loves and desires for revenge, anger, and hatred. “I’m waiting, I’m hating; realize: start hiding”. I’m waiting, I’m hating: realize it, start hiding. In this track, you can hear the strong Nirvana influences and some resemblances with certain tracks from 3 Doors Down.
“You” is the song you don’t expect from BB. There is no anger, there’s despair. There is no accusation, there’s remorse. The mistakes of a man who doesn’t want anyone else to repeat them. Pleasant, but there’s better.
“Evil Angel”, in a word, rocks. With "Evil Angel" you realize that “You” was not a mistake, that these Breaking Benjamin can convey love and express their passions. And here, they express it damn well. Great drumwork.
The sixth track is “Until The End”, reminiscent of early Nickelback, moving more assertively towards rock. The chorus is a bit banal and monotonous, it’s one of those typical radio singles, except for some screaming/growling here and there.
We then arrive at “Dance With The Devil”, a track where, in my opinion, the highest quality peaks are reached: aggressive, pounding, sometimes unpredictable. It’s a song that alone manages to raise the overall quality of the album. Another great effort by Chad Szeliga here.
And after a great title, one somewhat inferior. “Topless” sonically features a nice set of guitar lines, but there doesn’t seem to be a connection between the sound and Burnley's voice, which is much lower than usual. Banal lyrics, there’s aggression but it’s not convincing. A “heavy” track, unexpected on the album: great outside the themes, but in this context, it hardly fits.
“Here We Are”: here we are. The story of a relationship of continuous search destined to end. Nice, very nice, it’s the voice that carries the rest in this track.
“Unknown Soldier” features the best lyrics on the album, also accompanied by finally inspired guitars. The only flaw is the intro, reminiscent of Metallica’s One: a somewhat daring comparison…
In “Had Enough”, a fierce song, full of violence and intolerance, we find great lyrics and even more convincing riffs. Among the best on the album.
'Okay, maybe in Had Enough I exaggerated, let's talk about it'. This could be the gist of the meaning of “You Fight Me”, an excellent closing track that sees rhythmic changes and well-balanced guitars.
Following, the inevitable “Outro”, which starts better than the Intro but then flows into the usual noises of the beginning, almost reminding the listener there's Grunge in what they're hearing… this too, unnecessary.
To conclude, the acoustic version of “The Diary Of Jane”, accompanied by a beautiful piano sound and some strings. A nice extra, charming, very different from the original.

Final Comment

“Phobia” proves to be a valuable encounter between melody and chaos, emotions and aggressiveness. The absolute protagonists of the album are the sonic capabilities of the singer, not exceptional but pushed to the maximum, and the powerful and wandering guitars. From the lyrical standpoint, excellent tracks [Unknown Soldier among all] are followed by flat and anonymous lyrics. Best tracks are “You Fight Me”, “Dance With The Devil”, “Here We Are”, and “Evil Angel”.
Ultimately, another step forward in the band’s evolution, settling on slightly more hard-rock paths, almost completely abandoning their Alternative Metal beginnings. Recommended purchase.