Latest incarnation of Breaking Benjamin will rock Intrust Bank Arena

Benjamin Burnley is hardly the first band leader who has found himself having to replace the other members of his band. But his task was that much trickier because with his band, Breaking Benjamin, Burnley was leaving behind a lineup that had notched three platinum and one gold album during the first decade of the band’s existence.

Burnley, though, already had a list of musicians he wanted to work with by the time he decided to reform Breaking Benjamin in 2014. And after nearly four years with the current lineup, he feels this is the best version he’s had of his band, which will perform on Tuesday at Intrust Bank Arena with Five Finger Death Punch.

“Starting over is not an easy thing in any sort of walk of life,” Burnley said in a recent phone interview. “But I did, for a very long time, I did know who I had in mind, people that I always wanted to play with. So I was really thankful when it actually came to be and we got together. Just because you have individual friends that you get along with individually, that doesn’t mean when you get them all together it’s going to work. So that wound up working really well, too. It was just meant to be.”

The early lineup came together in 2001, when bassist Mark Klepaski and guitarist Aaron Fink joined drummer Jeremy Hummel and Burnley. That lineup enjoyed quick success when the band’s 2002 debut album, “Saturate,” went gold behind the popularity of the single “Polyamorous.”

The second album, “We’re Not Alone,” did even better, with the singles “So Cold” and “Sooner or Later” propelling sales past one million copies. After Hummel was dismissed and replaced by Chad Szeliga, the group went on to release two more platinum albums – “Phobia” (2006) and “Dear Agony” (2009) – while adding such top five singles as “The Diary of Jane,” “Breath” and “I Will Not Bow” to the band’s list of hits.

But then things took a turn into uncertain territory in 2010 when Burnley fired Fink and Klepaski for agreeing – without his knowledge – to record a new version of the hit song “Blow Me Away” for a greatest hits album. Legal actions ensued, and an agreement was reached that enabled Burnley to retain the Breaking Benjamin name and form a new lineup.

Burnley announced the new lineup – guitarist Jasen Rauch (formerly of Red), guitarist/vocalist Keith Wallen (formerly of Adelitas Way), bassist/vocalist Aaron Bruch and drummer Shaun Foist — in 2014, in time to record parts for the Breaking Benjamin album, “Dark Before Dawn,” which Burnley said he had 95 percent written and demoed before he brought the band into the studio.

As such, the recently released Breaking Benjamin album, “Ember,” is really the first album to be made by the new lineup of the group. Where before Burnley wrote nearly all of the songs, getting only occasional contributions from his former bandmates, the new lineup was very involved in the writing for “Ember.”

“The guys in the band now, not to put anybody down, but the writing we had done with the old lineup, it was very limited and it was very unorganic to me,” Burnley said. “I would have to take pieces and parts from things and make them fit into things that I already had. So with this band, on the writing aspect as well, the writing that those guys do is a lot more along the lines of the writing that I would do. We all kind of clicked that way.”

Even with the contributions of the new band members, “Ember” sounds very much like a Breaking Benjamin album.

That means plenty of rockers featuring fierce guitar riffs and sweetened by melodic vocals (“Feed The Wolf,” “Red Cold River” and “Psycho”). With only one moody ballad (“Dark Of You”) providing a brief change of pace, “Ember” is a bit heavier overall than the other Breaking Benjamin albums.

The new lineup seems to be connecting with fans. “Ember” has so far produced a N. 1 hit on “Billboard’s” Mainstream Rock chart, “Torn in Two,” while “Red Cold Red” went top five on multiple rock charts.

The biggest differences between the current and former Breaking Benjamins may be most apparent on the concert stage. And an extensive summer and fall co-headlining tour with Five Finger Death Punch is providing plenty of opportunities to see how Breaking Benjamin’s live show has changed with the new five-man lineup.

Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger Death Punch

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, doors open at 5 p.m.

Where: Intrust Bank Arena,

Tickets: $25.50, $40, $60 and $90 at the Select-a-Seat box office at Intrust Bank Arena, www.selectaseat.com or 316-755-7328