For all the doom and gloom about the state of rock, there is a positive sign this week that hard rock is still thriving, and it comes from Breaking Benjamin. The band returned with their fifth studio album, Dark Before Dawn, last week, and the fans have overwhelmingly embraced the disc, enough so that it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.

Surpassing 140,000 in sales, the disc became the band's first chart-topping release of their career. By comparison, the band's 2006 album Phobia debuted at No. 2, while 2009's Dear Agony arrived at No. 4.

The band's return has been one of the more interesting stories of 2015, as vocalist Benjamin Burnley completely reconstructed the band after legal issues over the name with the group's previous members kept Breaking Benjamin from releasing anything since 2009. The new lineup features a number of players with impressive resumes, as former Red guitarist Jasen Rauch, ex-Adelitas Way guitarist Keith Wallen, bassist Aaron Bruch and Picture Me Broken drummer Shaun Foist round out the band.

Upon their return earlier this year, the lead single "Failure" shot all the way up to No. 1 on the rock radio charts and remains there after eight weeks. Meanwhile, the track also hit No. 1 on the mainstream rock chart.

“We all want to say a huge thank you to all of our amazing fans, everybody at radio and other media outlets for continuing to support Breaking Benjamin," says Burnley. "We are all so very thankful and extremely grateful for everything your love and support has allowed us to achieve. We'd be nothing without you! Thank you all so very much from the bottom of our hearts for getting us to No. 1! We'll see you all out there on tour!”

The group is returning to the road tonight (July 1) in Asheville, N.C. for what will be the first of five acoustic dates. After that, they'll resume their regular rock shows with dates mapped out until October. They finish out the run with appearances at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville and the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento. See all of their upcoming dates at this location.

Breaking Benjamin's Dark Before Dawn album is currently available at Amazon and iTunes.

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