BREAKING BENJAMIN Releases New Single 'Awaken'

Multi-platinum hard rock group BREAKING BENJAMIN has released a new single, "Awaken". You can now check it out below.

BREAKING BENJAMIN's first new music since 2018 is being made available via the band's new global recordings agreement with BMG. The partnership with BMG also marks the group's first new label home since releasing their debut album over 20 years ago.

BREAKING BENJAMIN guitarist Jasen Rauch said about "Awaken": "Working on this song has been something new and exciting for all of us, I believe. We've been able to explore more of who we are traditionally while at the same time push boundaries and try things we haven't done in the past. Musically we've tried hard to stay true to what BREAKING BENJAMIN is, but offer a new take as well."

BREAKING BENJAMIN have consistently dominated the rock charts since their debut album in 2002, "Saturate". With 10 No. 1 hits, platinum albums, 8.5 billion streams globally, and a social following of over 6.5 million, they've solidified their global influence and a strong devoted fan base. Their last release, "Aurora", earned them their tenth No. 1 rock radio hit with "Far Away" (featuring Scooter Ward).

Their previous album, "Ember", debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, marking their fourth Top 5 debut. Their track record includes No. 1 hits like "Red Cold River" and "Torn In Two". Both "Aurora" and "Ember" achieved Top 10 status in multiple countries, and No. 1 spots across various charts, including Billboard's Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Digital Albums.

In a statement, the band said: "Working on these new songs has been a fresh experience for all of us. We've stayed true to the core of who BREAKING BENJAMIN is, but we've also pushed ourselves creatively, exploring new sounds and ideas that we haven't tapped into before. It's been about striking that balance between honoring our roots while introducing a fresh take on what our music can be."

Sean Heydorn, SVP, head of rock and Rise Records, said: "BREAKING BENJAMIN has consistently pushed the boundaries of rock music with their raw energy, powerful songwriting, and a connection with fans that's both intense and enduring. We're incredibly proud to support them as they embark on their next chapter with us at BMG."

Over the course of the group's career, BREAKING BENJAMIN have earned three platinum albums, two gold albums, one four-times-platinum single, one three-times-platinum single, one two-times-platinum single, three platinum singles, and six gold singles, making them one of rock music's most highly anticipated torch bearers of new music.

In a May 2024 interview with Ronni Hunter and Thick Rick of the 99.7 The Blitz radio station, Rauch spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's long-awaited new studio album. He said: "We've got about four [songs] done. We're kind of taking a summer break right now up until — we go out with STAIND in September. And so between now and then, we're really looking at wrapping the stuff up and having some new music out for that tour. As far as album release, it's a little out of our hands, . Because it's later in the year, it might be pushed back till next year, just because December, everything shuts down, and you wanna get the momentum that you can. So hopefully we'll have a tour wrapped around that as well with the release. But, yeah, new music this year, for sure."

BREAKING BENJAMIN guitarist Keith Wallen previously discussed the band's recording progress during an appearance on "Drinks With Johnny", the Internet TV show hosted by AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ. At the time, he said: "Obviously, we're still out there playing shows, which is probably confusing-slash-shocking to some people. 'Cause it's, like, 'Yo, you guys need a new record.' But we just love to play. I mean, for lack of better words, we just love to get out there and play. And I think we've been able to kind of split the time pretty well between playing, touring and writing as well. And we've got a few songs recorded, done, in the can. We have many songs written — finalized and written. And whenever we have the breaks and the time and everything, we just get in the studio and we knock 'em out. So I think in the next little gaps between now and our spring tour and then between the spring tour and potential late summer/fall tour, we're gonna get some real progress on it."

He continued: "But, man, I'm excited — I'm really excited. We've been working on some of these songs for, or at least demoing some of these songs — me and Rauch and Ben [BREAKING BENJAMIN frontman Benjamin Burnley]. It's been a few years in the making, of course. Everyone knows; I read it every day on the comments. But we're working on it."

This past February, Rauch told the FM99 WNOR radio station that he and his BREAKING BENJAMIN bandmates were "definitely recording" new music. "We've been writing for a while," he said. "Our tour schedule keeps things kind of intermittent. So it's hard to get… We'll go on a tour. We're out for quite a while, come home. Everybody wants to go see their family, have some downtime or whatever. And then it may only be a six-week turnaround, a 10-week turnaround, till we've gotta go back out and start prepping for the other thing. Keith and I do some work on the side with other bands, other projects. Keith's got his solo stuff, which is rad… But as far as recording goes, it's been so long since we've had an album out, we feel somewhat precious about it and are just making sure our quality control is there. So we are actually working, we are actually recording. We have songs that are finished, and it's just gonna be about all the business stuff —interfacing with the label and release schedule, what windows are open, that kind of thing, and then as far as us fitting in those recordings around the tour schedule."

Jasen continued: "A lot of bands would go and lock themselves away for three or four months in the studio. We're opting not to do that. We're doing a lot remote and things like that."

Asked by FM99 WNOR if it's easy to work on an album and tour at the same time, Jasen said: "It's almost impossible. I can count maybe three bands, I think, that would be successful at writing [and] recording on the road, because it's very difficult. You can have all the best intentions, but it's hard just squeezing things in between press, any sort of VIP stuff that we have, soundchecks."

Added Keith: "Even just finding a nice quiet place to you know record some vocals or something. And not even just that, but just recording vocals in general, it's, like, when you're on tour, you're using your vocals a lot and there's a fatigue factor there. So you wanna be at your best when you're recording; you don't wanna be just completely cashed from singing three shows in a row."

Jasen concurred, saying: "It's a recording, so it'll live forever, so you want it to be the best, you want it to be perfect, but is that going to be at the expense of the quality of the show suffering as well? So, yeah, it's a difficult line to walk there."

In July 2023, Keith told Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", about BREAKING BENJAMIN's next studio LP: "We've always been kind of writing and kind of chronicling some ideas over the past few years — through the pandemic, all that stuff, we've always been writing. But here recently it started to pick up a little bit. So I'm hoping — hoping — there's gonna be some new music out sometime within the next year. That's a nice, safe answer. I could say month, I could say two months, but I'm gonna say year, just 'cause it's been so long. I don't wanna screw ourselves somehow; I don't know."

Keith went on to say that there is quite a bit of new BREAKING BENJAMIN material nearly ready to be released. "We've got some stuff in the works," he said. "We've got a lot of music recorded. Ben just posted yesterday — he just tracked some vocals for a song. So, yeah, we're getting there. We move at our own pace here, much to the dismay of a lot of people, I've noticed, online."

He added about the new BREAKING BENJAMIN music: "It's awesome. It's exciting. And man, I can't wait to get it out there finally."

Two months earlier, Rauch told Janna of 97.9 WGRD radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan about BREAKING BENJAMIN's plan for the follow-up to 2018's "Ember" album: "We are working on music. We've been writing for quite a while. And regardless of whether we were able to record anything or not, we've been writing for a little over a year, I would say. We kind of keep the bar pretty high for ourselves as far as the standard moving forward. We've been experimenting with some things, throwing some things out, started over a couple of times, and are getting to a place where we're pretty happy.

"So, yeah, we've been in the studio," he continued. "We did some in Nashville. We've done a lot of stuff remotely. Ben and I have dozens and dozens of voice memos going back, 'Hey, try this. Try this.' And we'll record something and send it back and forth. But, yeah, we're looking forward to it. And hopefully we'll have something out soon for everybody to hear."

Photo credit: Dominique D'Costa (courtesy of BMG)