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ALeeN ROSE [AY-lee-uhn rohz] and Luna Wolf Records are charmed to present “They’re There” (Feat. Willie Nelson), the debut single from

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Hard rock titans Breaking Benjamin have officially triggered the next chapter of their storied career with the release of a brooding and haunting new single, “Something Wicked,” signaling that a full-length studio album is finally on the horizon. Following the massive success of last year’s chart-topper “Awaken,” which has already surpassed 131 million streams, the band is doubling down on a darker sonic direction that frontman Benjamin Burnley describes as the most challenging work of their 25-year history.

This latest reveal comes as the group navigates a major lineup shift, officially introducing a new drummer following the departure of longtime member Shaun Foist due to a serious health battle. With 8.5 billion streams and 10 No. 1 hits in their arsenal, Burnley and company are now preparing for their first European tour since 2017, proving that the “Power of the Ember” era was just the beginning. Will this new darker sound alienate long-time fans or cement them as the undisputed kings of modern rock? Join the debate in the comments below.

“Pushed Every Boundary”: The Birth of “Something Wicked”

The new track, “Something Wicked,” marks a significant evolution in the band’s signature blend of atmospheric tension and thunderous instrumentation. Moving away from the radio-ready polish of their earlier output, the song builds from a simmering, introspective opening into a powerful, anthemic crescendo that showcases Burnley’s shift between vulnerable restraint and explosive intensity.

“We challenged ourselves especially hard on this record and on this song,” Burnley shared regarding the creative process. “We pushed every boundary we’ve previously had as far as it will go, then pushed a little more. ‘Something Wicked’ was the result”. The single follows “Awaken,” which was the group’s first release under their new global recordings agreement with BMG—their first new label home since their debut nearly 25 years ago.

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Lineup Crisis: New Drummer Confirmed Following Health Departure

Breaking Benjamin’s May 9 performance at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Florida served as the official debut for new drummer Brian Medeiros (formerly of Red and Otherwise). Medeiros takes over the throne following a tumultuous period behind the kit.

Longtime drummer Shaun Foist recently announced he would “step away” from touring to focus on his ongoing battle with Hashimoto’s disease. For the past eight months, James Cassells of Asking Alexandria had been filling the void. “We want to thank James for helping us in a time of need… We welcome Brian to the stage with us moving forward,” the band stated in an official release.

2026 European Tour and Legacy of Dominance

Breaking Benjamin remains one of the most commercially successful forces in rock, with their last studio album, Ember, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. This summer, the band will return to Europe for the first time in nearly a decade, bringing Chevelle and Return To Dust along as support.

The Breaking Benjamin Billboard Legacy:

• 8.5 Billion combined global streams.
• Ten No. 1 hits at Active Rock Radio.
• No. 1 Debut for 2015’s Dark Before Dawn.
• 6.5 Million followers across social platforms.

Check This Out – 13 Perfect Metal Albums With Zero Skips

FAQ

Is Breaking Benjamin releasing a new album in 2026? While a specific date hasn’t been set, the band has confirmed “Something Wicked” is a tease for a forthcoming full-length studio album.

Who is the new drummer for Breaking Benjamin? Brian Medeiros (formerly of Red and Otherwise) is the band’s new permanent drummer.

Why did Shaun Foist leave Breaking Benjamin? Shaun Foist stepped away from touring to focus on his health while battling Hashimoto’s disease.

Where can I watch Breaking Benjamin live? The band is scheduled to tour Europe in June and July 2026 with support from Chevelle.

STAY LOUD: Catch the full breakdown of today’s stories on the Loaded Radio Daily Podcast, or crank the hard rock and metal 24/7 on our live digital stream at LoadedRadio.com.

TL;DR:

Breaking Benjamin releases the haunting new single “Something Wicked,” confirms a new drummer (Brian Medeiros), and prepares for a 2026 European tour and a new full-length album.

The post THE RECOVERY: Why Breaking Benjamin Pushed “Every Boundary” for Haunting New Single “Something Wicked” appeared first on Loaded Radio.

A new resurgence of old took place.

–Fenriz

Fenriz was talking about YouTube’s impact on resurrecting old, obscure music in the words quoted above, but it certainly also applies to Darkthrone’s recent philosophy and practice. The dynamic Norwegian duo’s “Frightfully barbaric but not without finesse” new album, Pre-Historic Metal, is a perfect distillation of this mindset. Darkthrone has once again journeyed back in time and returned with something new. It seems that the true key to successfully mining the past is knowing what to keep, what to return, and what specifically to expand upon. Nocturno Culto and Fenriz have proven to be preternaturally sensitive in this regard. Sometimes you need gifted sonic archaeologists to dig up and repurpose the spirit of a Metal Church or a Dream Death, imbuing new life into old skeletons. 

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As the band enter their fifth decade of existence, they’re operating with a level of comfort and ease few outfits have ever enjoyed. As Fenriz put it: “We are merely just playing in our own sandbox with full creative control.” They’ve utilized this control to settle into a characteristically bent workflow that has served them well. To hear Fenriz tell it, the general outline of their creative routine starts with Nocturno Culto booking studio time (more on this momentarily) and three months beforehand, picking up his guitar and getting to work. Fenriz maintains that he is always working on new Darkthrone albums and apparently watching a lot of soccer (Who does he support goddamnit? Lazy journos. Someone please ask him this. I need to know!) and biathlon events whereby riffs magically pour into his brain. Interestingly, he told journalist Kim Kelly that lyrics are now his biggest challenge and after 40 years of writing them, it has become “difficult to find new words and new scenarios.” No drop off is noticeable yet.

Since 2020, Nocturno has chosen Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo as Darkthrone’s recording space. The band became comfortable instantly with studio ops Ole Ovstedal and Silje Hogevold, whom Fenriz characterizes as now being “part of the entire operation.” This near-instantaneous sense of friendliness and familiarity, not to mention the joint’s apparently epic cache of vintage gear, have increasingly shaped Darkthrone’s current sound. Not just sonically, but it has also given the veteran tandem space to add new elements such as synthesizers and, perhaps most importantly, a renewed emphasis on collaboration, which is huge for a band whose songwriting has been so strictly delineated and compartmentalized for much of their existence. This shift began for Nocturno during the It Beckons Us All…… sessions. The progression continued during work on Pre-Historic Metal, leading Fenriz to remark: “We collaborated in the studio more than ever, who’s playing what is still in a purple haze.”          

The results are striking, as heard on “So I Marched to the Sunken Empire,” an instrumental that evokes a synth-damaged Dagobah-esque wasteland before building into a bizarre crescendo of creepy chorale grandeur. This is a delightfully welcome outlier, but the true story of this record is the aforementioned horde of riffs and the filthy, punishing, outright murderous guitar tones conveying them. Opening track, “They Found One of My Graves” bursts forth with galloping, bayonet-wielding riffs that carry a strangled, strangely distant Nocturno vocal before melting into a passage of psilocybin-laced doom and evaporating. 

One of the drawbacks of being such avid metal archivists is that sometimes their songs (“Leave No Cross Unturned” from The Underground Resistance, for example) read like surveys of the genre’s history. The title track is burdened with this, but instead of the genre, it seems to be a digest of Darkthrone’s 20-odd album career in a four-minute package. The vocals again take the cavernous, prehistoric vibe into near absurdity, sounding like they were recorded in Lascaux. There are doomy pieces, twisted Slayer riffs, marauding drum batteries, power metal refrains, blasts…it’s equal parts killer and bewildering.

Not so for “Siberian Thaw,” a grinding avalanche of colossal doom riffs, equipped with a chanted chorus that dissolves into a frigid and moody MicroFreak wasteland before rising triumphantly into the chorus for the fade-out. “The Dry Wells of Hell” features Nocturno’s best vocal, a demented undead Goliath monologue complemented by some of Fenriz’s best King Diamond-isms. This track settles into a dreary death march that most resembles some of their recent “slow heavy metal” offerings, bearing notes of Dio-era Sabbath, Candlemass, and the aforementioned Mercyful Fate. Fenriz recycles the spirit of his Circle the Wagons-era crust punk moves on the tepid “Eat Eat Eat Your Pride,” before the record ends beautifully with the towering “Eon 4,” a majestic, crawling dirge that undulates with deranged vocal shifts and drastic tempo changes.

I just recently re-read Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. It often becomes hard not to be defined by your burdens, the things you carry, particularly when you legitimately feel called to carry them, as Darkthrone clearly does with regard to the music they worship. Loss of self is a legitimate hazard, but Fenriz and Nocturno Culto still exist singularly outside of the things they’re carrying from the past into the present, and for that, I’m grateful. 

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Pre-Historic Metal is available now via Peaceville Records.

Melodic death metal outfit Accursed has released their powerful new single "Sever The Horizon," a track that not only expands the band’s sonic identity but also serves as the creative catalyst for their forthcoming debut full‑length album. The LP is currently in pre‑production and scheduled to begin recording this summer, with a release date to be … Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

The funeral bell is tolling, the ravens have left the tower – the long-awaited fourth album from the UK’s lords of the riff is finally upon us. "Necropolitan" will be released on Friday September 11th 2026 by Nuclear Blast Records. A monumental portrait of the power of nature over the dreams and dominion of humankind, "Necropolitan" is also a grand… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

The Sleights and Land of Wolves are proud to announce their first official joint release, the King of the Mountain split EP—a 12-inch

They've confirmed the first collection of originals since 2017's 'Songs of Experience.' Continue reading…

Wedding music can make a reception feel warm, personal, and easy for guests to join. A good playlist does more than fill silence. It sets pace, brings generations together, and gives people clear moments to remember: the walk down the aisle, the first dance, dinner, the dance floor, and the final song.

Modern couples are also planning with guests in mind. The Knot Worldwide’s 2025 Global Wedding Report, based on more than 33,000 married couples across eight countries, found that personalization and guest-centered celebrations are shaping weddings in a major way. Music fits directly into that shift because it affects mood faster than almost any other detail.

Start With The Flow Of The Day

The best wedding music plan follows the event’s natural rhythm. That rhythm becomes even more important at destination weddings, where guests may move between gardens, courtyards, terraces, villas, and dinner spaces throughout the day.

A Wedding Planner Tuscany can help connect music timing with venue layout so every part of the celebration feels properly paced.

Ceremony songs should feel intentional and calm. Cocktail hour can be lighter and more conversational. Dinner should support the room without taking over. The reception needs movement, familiarity, and smart pacing.

A strong modern wedding playlist usually works in layers:

A wedding playlist should never feel like one long shuffle. Guests respond better when the music has shape.

Ceremony Songs That Feel Modern Without Feeling Trendy

Ceremony music works best when it feels sincere rather than overly dramatic. The song should match the room, the couple, and the pace of the entrance.

Good modern ceremony options include:

• “Turning Page” by Sleeping At Last
• “Sea Of Love” by Cat Power
• “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Kina Grannis
• “Beyond” by Leon Bridges
• “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds
• “I Get To Love You” by Ruelle
• “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri
• “Sweet Nothing” by Taylor Swift

Instrumental versions can work beautifully for couples who want emotion without lyrics competing with the moment. String covers of pop songs are popular because they feel familiar without sounding like a radio single.

For the recessional, choose something lighter. Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams,” or Beyoncé’s “Love On Top” can shift the mood from formal to celebratory in seconds.

First Dance Songs With Staying Power

The first dance should feel personal, but it should also be manageable. Long songs can become awkward when guests are watching from the edge of the floor.

The Knot notes that wedding pros often suggest keeping the first dance under about 90 seconds, especially when the selected track runs 4 minutes or more.

Popular first dance choices keep returning for a reason. According to The Knot’s list of popular first dance songs among newlyweds, Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” ranked at the top, followed by songs such as “Joy Of My Life” by Chris Stapleton, “Life With You” by Kelsey Hart, and “At Last” by Etta James.

Strong first dance picks for a modern wedding include:

Romantic And Classic

• “At Last” by Etta James
• “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley
• “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green
• “You Are The Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne

Modern And Smooth

• “Beyond” by Leon Bridges
• “All Of Me” by John Legend
• “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran
• “Lover” by Taylor Swift
• “Lifetime” by Justin Bieber

Country And Folk-Leaning

• “Joy Of My Life” by Chris Stapleton
• “Forever After All” by Luke Combs
• “Speechless” by Dan + Shay
• “Grow Old With Me” by Tom Odell

The safest rule is simple: choose a song with emotional meaning, imaging it is a Valentine’s Day, then edit the length. A 75-second first dance often feels more polished than a full 4-minute version.

Cocktail Hour Needs Taste, Not Volume

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cocktail hour sets the tone for guests who may be meeting for the first time. Music should create movement in the room without forcing people to speak over it.

A modern cocktail hour playlist can mix soul, soft rock, jazz, indie, and acoustic pop. Think Leon Bridges, Sade, Norah Jones, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Ocean, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Michael Kiwanuka.

Good cocktail hour songs include:

• “Coming Home” by Leon Bridges
• “Smooth Operator” by Sade
• “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae
• “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac
• “Pink + White” by Frank Ocean
• “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones
• “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers

Live music works especially well here. A saxophone player, acoustic duo, jazz trio, or string quartet can make the room feel considered without pulling attention from conversation.

Dinner Music Should Keep The Room Comfortable

Dinner music often gets overlooked, yet it matters. Guests are eating, talking, and settling in for the reception. Music should be warm, familiar, and low enough to let conversation breathe.

A dinner playlist can include:

Reception Songs That Bring Different Generations Together

A packed dance floor usually comes from familiarity, not novelty. Guests dance when they recognize the beat quickly and feel safe joining in.

Academic research on music and social bonding has linked synchronized movement and rhythmic activity with stronger feelings of connection, which helps explain why group dancing can change the mood of a room so quickly.

Recent playlist analysis reported by Brides found Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” appeared in 24.2% of 2,000 wedding-themed Spotify playlists, followed by ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” Usher’s “Yeah!,” The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.”

Reception songs guests usually respond to well include:

• “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston
• “Dancing Queen” by ABBA
• “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
• “Crazy In Love” by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z
• “Yeah!” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris
• “Levitating” by Dua Lipa
• “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
• “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers
• “Shut Up And Dance” by Walk The Moon
• “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
• “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars
• “We Found Love” by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris

The DJ should not play every major hit too early. Build from openers into bigger moments. Start with songs that invite movement, then move toward peak tracks once the room is ready.

How To Mix New Songs With Wedding Classics

Modern weddings work best when the playlist respects both the couple and the crowd. A reception made only of new releases may leave older guests out. A reception made only of older classics may feel detached from the couple’s actual taste.

A smart balance might look like:

• 30% timeless classics
• 30% 2000s and 2010s crowd-pleasers
• 25% current pop, R&B, country, or dance
• 15% personal favorites, cultural songs, or niche picks

That mix gives the DJ room to read the floor. A song like “Dancing Queen” can pull in parents, cousins, and friends at once. A newer track like “Levitating” keeps the night current. A personal favorite can land beautifully when placed at the right moment.

Do-Not-Play Lists Matter

Every couple should give the DJ or band a short do-not-play list. Keep it focused. A 70-song banned list can make the entertainer’s job harder, but a list of 10 to 15 firm skips is useful.

Common do-not-play choices include songs tied to exes, overused line dances, tracks with explicit lyrics, or songs that clash with family expectations. Couples should also flag any songs that seem romantic but carry a sad or breakup-heavy meaning.

Final Song Ideas That End The Night Well

The last song should feel like a shared sendoff. Guests should know it, sing with it, or feel wrapped into the moment.

Strong final songs include:

• “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey
• “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers
• “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie
• “Last Dance” by Donna Summer
• “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond
• “Closing Time” by Semisonic
• “Love On Top” by Beyoncé

Choose the ending based on the couple’s personality. Some weddings need a huge singalong. Others need a warm, romantic closer.

Summary

The best songs for a modern wedding feel personal without losing the crowd. Build the day in stages, keep the first dance tight, protect conversation during dinner, and give the reception enough familiar songs to keep guests moving.

A great playlist does not need to impress everyone at once. It needs to carry the room from one moment to the next with taste, timing, and enough joy for people to stay on the floor.

“It was a huge disaster in front of 65,000 people. We fell apart”

The most stable line-up in the band’s six-decade history have completed their first trilogy, with new spiritual insight and an old but well-loved guitar style borrowed from Syd Barrett