The United Kingdom--the epitome of a country with a rich history and culture, full of the saccharine wine of amalgamations into every breadth of subjects that it has conquered: philosophy, literature, military logistics and warfare, science, and music. Speaking of the latter, it is the birthplace of many doom metal acts (along with the evolution of the metal genre starting there and its progenitor, Black Sabbath); doom bands like Anathema, Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Serotonal, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Sacrilege, and the ever dolorous Warning.
Warning formed in 1994 with vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker, bassist Marcus Hatfield, and drummer Stuart Springthorpe. They've released only two full-length albums.
And there's no warning given for the sonic assail of Patrick Walker's woeful lamentations that are unabashedly splayed open like a wound, stinging and festering with sorrow. Basically this guy belts it all out, with words that aren't the immature whining of a teenage emo kid that just got dumped and complains about how bad their life is when it really isn't. Yes Walker's lyrical themes revolve around depression, loss, relationships and society, but with a more cynical, profoundness and maturity that anyone of any age can relate to.
Considering the singing, Walker has an excellent range, brazen with melancholy. At first the vocals are a bit off putting, especially in a metal genre with heavy, slow, soul-crushing, mind-exhausting guitars, but stick with them through a whole song and it will grow on you. Speaking of the guitars, they are honestly the most tragic, heart-breaking riffs in the world, the melody alone makes me want to cry. And I will honestly say that they have made me cry; not a lot of things have that effect on me. Which tells you that it must be pretty damn sad and pretty damn good.
Like most doom metal songs, Warning songs are lengthy, cyclic, with simplistic composition, but not boring. And with this sub genre it is pretty hard to try to not be monotonous and repetitive, but somehow they instead achieve atmosphere. The drums have great reverb and aren't too over powering but not unnoticed (and I commend anyone that can play them longer than six minutes without losing feeling). The bass usually goes unnoticed and unfortunately you can't really hear much of them in their songs, but they add the extra doom-stricken effect.
Alas, this epic band had split-up sometime around 2007-2009, Walker going on to form 40 Watt Sun along with the drummer. Whether they will ever get back together is uncertain; only the shattered remains of raw and personal emotions lay at hand waiting to affect others whom are willing to pick up these pieces and reflect.
Here is the monolith of a song, Watching From A Distance:
