Breaking Benjamin’s new album Dear Agony is much more than just the band’s fourth album; it marks the first album lead singer Benjamin Burnley has written since overcoming his struggles with alcoholism two years ago. “This is the first album I’ve done sober,” Burnley told Alternative Addiction in a recent interview. “When you drink you can kind of make yourself creative, you can inspire yourself. You get so messed up from an outside influence that you go outside of your own head.” The pressure of following up the success of the band’s 2006 release Phobia was nothing compared to the pressure that Burnley faced writing an album without alcohol, something Burnley said he had never done prior to this record. “When you are sober, moments like that do happen, you just sort of have to wait for them to happen, and take advantage of them the best you can. It’s hard though because you can’t use any outside influences to alter your state of mind.” Burnley, now sober for two and a half years, said that his choice to quit drinking was not a voluntary one, but due to the harm drinking had done to himself, he had no choice but to quit. “I was a major alcoholic for over ten years, it was really bad,” said Burnley. “I’ve actually caused my body some permanent damage from it. It’s not really a choice for me because of that, if I was to continue to drink I basically wouldn’t be here today.” Already gaining strong reviews, ‘Dear Agony’ is picking up where the multi-platinum success of Phobia left off, thanks in large part to the single “I Will Not Bow,” that has been featured in the motion picture Surrogates. Dear Agony is due in stores this Tuesday (9/29). Listen To Alternative Addiction’s Interview with Breaking Benjamin