"Red Cold River" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Breaking Benjamin. It was their lead single from their sixth studio album ''

Ember An ember, also called a hot coal, is a hot lump of smouldering solid fuel, typically glowing, composed of greatly heated wood, coal, or other carbon-based material. Embers (hot coals) can exist within, remain after, or sometimes precede, a ...

''. The song peaked at number two on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Mainstream Rock chart.

Background

"Red Cold River" was first announced as the lead single for the band's sixth studio album, ''

'', in December 2017. A short teaser clip of the song was released on January 1, 2018, while the full song was later officially released on January 5, 2018. The song debuted number 38 on the ''

'' Mainstream Rock Songs chart in its first week at radio, making it the biggest gainer on the chart of the week. A music video was released on January 18, 2018, featuring alternating footage of the band performing, and scenes of an anguished father who finds his missing daughter dead near a creek. The man meets a Native American woman who helps him see a vision of the man who killed his daughter and was a part of the search party. The father transforms into a monster, hunts down the killer, and beats him almost to death, but stops upon seeing the angel of his deceased daughter.

Themes and composition

The song features a "dark and moody" guitar riff and quiet-loud dynamics, with sections of "lunging, low-slung rhythms juxtaposed by soaring atmospheric moments". The band's lead vocalist Benjamin Burnley employs

screamed vocals Screaming is an extended vocal technique that is popular in "aggressive" music genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, and noise music and others. It is common in the more extreme subgenres of heavy metal, such as death and black metal as wel ...

in the pre-chorus, followed by clean, melodic vocals in the chorus, singing the dark lines "I can't feel anything at all / this life has left me cold and damned". The song's "heavy yet melodic" sound was compared to prior Breaking Benjamin songs "

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" and "

The Diary of Jane "The Diary of Jane" is a song by American rock band Breaking Benjamin. It was released in June 2006 as the lead single from their third album, '' Phobia''. The song, one of their most notable and successful, is the fastest-added single ever in the ...

Reception

Initial critical reception of the song was mixed. ''Metal Injection'' praised the song for being "catchy" and having a "memorable enough hook" that takes effect after hearing the song three times.

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

was less enthusiastic, criticizing that it sounded too much like early 2000s rock music from the band and similar artists such as

Seether Seether are a South African rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion wit ...

and Theory of a Deadman. In its first week of release, the song sold 22,000 copies in the US.

Personnel

Benjamin Burnley Benjamin Jackson Burnley IV (born March 10, 1978) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the founder and frontman of the American rock band Breaking Benjamin. As the sole constant of the group, Burnley h ...

– lead vocals *

Jasen Rauch Jasen Ryan Rauch () (born April 24, 1981) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is the current lead guitarist of the rock band Breaking Benjamin and was the former lead guitarist of the Christian rock band Red. Rauch was al ...

– lead guitar *

Keith Wallen Keith Wallen (born February 24, 1980) is an American musician who is the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Breaking Benjamin, former guitarist and backing vocalist of Adelitas Way, and the co-founder, lead singer and guitar ...

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Aaron Bruch – bass, backing vocals * Shaun Foist – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2018 songs Songs written by Benjamin Burnley Breaking Benjamin songs Songs written by Jasen Rauch 2018 singles Hollywood Records singles Songs written by Keith Wallen