Warning  –  Rituals Of Shame

Warning  –  Rituals Of Shame
Relapse Record
Release date: 19/06/26
Review by: Oli Gonzalez
8/10

Picture the scene. A Sunday night in Manchester. The normally lifeless shell of steel and concrete that is the Bowlers Exhibition Centre hosting Damnation Festival, and becoming the scene for one of the most gripping and emotionally potent performances in the festival’s history. British doom metal legends Warning playing their genre defining masterpiece “Watching From A Distance” in full. Picture 2000 or so, usually stoic metal fans either trying to contain their emotions or openly weeping. This was expected by many, but still couldn’t prepare them for this full-on emotional onslaught.

Led by Patrick Walker, the band now are now ready to drop “Rituals Of Shame” 20 years later. Whether this has the capacity to reduce people to tears in the same way “Watching From A Distance” did remains to be seen. But it would be a safe bet to say it could! 

It feels as though they picked up from where they left off 2 decades ago with an if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it mantra. Warning’s formula certainly isn’t broken. Lashings after lashings of crushing walls of distortion is about as primitive as it gets. Nothing fancy, nothing slick, with the space and silence in between each just as crucial to truly reflect on their impact and potency. Patrick’s voice is drenched in raw sentiment and primal angst, conjuring up the performance of a soul in turmoil and in crisis. If you can’t feel the sentiment here, you might just be a robot.

Listen to ‘Night Comes Down’ on hot summers day, and watch as your world quickly becomes engulfed in a shroud of darkness such is the all-consuming undertone to this number! Once again, nothing fancy or slick. Warning don’t aim to reinvent the wheel here. So how do they stand out in such an overly stacked modern metal landscape? 

Whilst most have access to studio quality recording software right on their laptops, some things just can’t be substituted. You can’t digitally recreate the reverberations and austere resonance that a church can. Nor can the huge drum sounds be captured digitally from such an environment. Which is why Patrick took the recording process to The Arch Studio, Southport, and worked with recording and mixing duties handled by the very capable Chris Fullard; having worked with Ulver, and Sunn O))), then he knows his stuff clearly. The result is some huge overwhelming guitar tones with unparalleled layers of depth and cavernous drums that will rattle your ancestors. 

Then again, doom metal in this style with its ultra progressions that make waiting for the ‘good bit’ feel like waiting for geological ages to come and go. That’s valid. It’d be boring if we all liked the same things. That’s why “Rituals Of Shame” will be a feast for the initiated and simultaneously not worth the investment of time for others. A true marmite record. 

Rituals Of Shame is enough to pull violently on your heartstrings! 

Track list:

1. Rituals Of Shame
2. Stations
3. Night Comes Down
4. Landing Lights
5. Teacher

LINKS

https://www.facebook.com/Warningdoom/ 

https://www.instagram.com/warningdoom/