Warning’s studio output may be small, but the amount of impact it has had on listeners is significant. The Strength to Dream and the earlier demos felt a bit more in the traditional doom space, with vocalist Patrick Walker hitting some pitches that sounded quite close to Ozzy. But by 2006’s Watching from a Distance things had shifted significantly, with Walker’s approach pivoting to more of a soulful croon that tugged at your emotions and the instrumentation adopted a denser yet warm tone. It was one of those albums that was considered a landmark in the doom space for many, but only a few years after releasing it Warning called it quits. Walker continued on with 40 Watt Sun, which retained some of the doom initially before ultimately moving towards softer rock influenced textures, giving even more weight to his emotive singing. Around ten years ago Warning returned, primarily to celebrate the anniversary of Watching from a Distance and perform the material live. For awhile this seemed like all we would get from the group and listeners looking for new music would need to look to 40 Watt Sun, but here we are ten years later after that reformation and it’s finally happened. Rituals of Shame picks up where the band left off, offering five sprawling arrangements that are as sad and impactful as they come while making some production tweaks that push things forward.
Upon pressing play the title track hits you with a considerable amount of weight and atmosphere, and while the production values on Rituals of Shame aren’t quite as dense as its predecessor that doesn’t dull the impact at all. There’s a noticeable emphasis on letting everything breathe a bit more this time around and give the feeling of the band performing these dark and desolate pieces right in front of you. The drums have the right amount of thump to them and the bass lines add some thickness in the background, while the guitars expand over top of them in a genuinely mournful fashion. It does feel like a bit of the airiness from 40 Watt Sun has rubbed off on Warning a bit, but this is still traditional doom through and through. Each song sprawls outward in a methodical fashion, but the way everything is written keeps you hanging on each note from beginning to end. The title track is a great example, as it establishes a slow cadence and the guitar leads have this melancholic and haunting tone to them for the first three quarters, but things then shift over to a slightly faster pace and fuller sound to finish things off. Like some of the minimalist oriented doom out there, the shifts over the course of each song are subtle and the core of the sound is oriented around a few specific riffs that build on each one. But there are differences to each one that made them easy to tell apart over repeat listens, and where it’s the sweeping leads on “Night Comes Down” or the subdued, reflective textures of “Teacher” there’s plenty to keep you engaged.
As impactful as the instrumentation is throughout Rituals of Shame, Walker’s vocals continue to be what really pushes things over the top. In the time that he’s spent with 40 Watt Sun Walker has refined his singing to be as strong as possible, and this really shines through on this record. The way his voice hangs over the recording achieves this fine balance between light and powerful, and there’s a sense of grief and other tearjerking emotions that will tug at even the most hardened listener. At times the approach feels a bit more grounded, but on songs like “Stations” the singing soars over the recording in ways that really grab your attention. With the tweaks to the production there is some additional separation between the vocals and instrumentals that really give Walker additional emphasis, but he never fully overwhelms the rest of the band and the way they continue to complement each other is fantastic. Normally this type of overly somber and sad tone might wear on me with additional listens, but there’s something about Warning that actually does the opposite and has me in awe with each time through.
Even twenty years ago Warning’s brand of highly emotional and methodical doom wasn’t for everyone, and Rituals of Shame is unlikely to change your mind. But if you’ve either been drawn in by their past material or are a fan of everything doom adjacent this album is a must have. While there are noticeable tweaks to the recording and approach compared to Watching from a Distance, stylistically it feels like they picked up right from where they left off. The results are incredible, and the way that Walker and company draw so much emotion out of their music is unlike anyone else in the genre. Rituals of Shame is available from Relapse Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg