Review: Warning – Rituals of Shame

August 14, 2026

I don’t know if there’s a way to write this review without talking about Watching from a Distance. Largely considered one of doom metal’s all-time greatest albums, even 20 years after its release, it was always going to be a tough act to follow. Two decades of anticipation can put a lot of pressure on a band, and it’s tempting to try to make an album that’s just Watching from a Distance II. Fortunately, Warning have chosen to make a record that stands entirely on its own merits.

Rituals of Shame opens exactly the way you’d want it to: massive, gloomy guitar tones that trudge on for a while before Patrick Walker’s vocals take their rightful place at the front and center. Walker’s voice, which has aged like a fine wine, serves as both our Dante and our Virgil as we make our way through the layers of his own emotions and suffering. Walker’s not one to mince words when it comes to his lyrics and has always found unique ways to express what he feels. My personal favorite set of lyrics comes from the very beginning of the opening track:

“When the shadows are of strangers

And their faces are the same

And their voices pour down like poison

Then I rub the human stain

And I flounder for the outlines

And I never find just one

Of the missing corner pieces

And my eyes can’t see enough

With unsparing clear images running

Through the lantern of the soul

I must watch in petrified silence

And I can’t close my eyes to it…

I can’t close my eyes, I can’t raise a hand

To cover my eyes to the hell of it all”

Brutal stuff. But if you’re familiar with Watching from a Distance, you know that Warning is something you put on when you’re in the mood for it. It’s cold, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s unrelentingly honest. And yet, there’s a warmth to Rituals of Shame that wasn’t there on the previous albums. This warmth is, in no small part, thanks to Marcus Hatfield’s bass playing and the extra layer of depth that it brings. The percussion, too, is mixed much better than it has been on previous records (though I actually don’t mind how they sound on Watching from a Distance as much as some folks do). It all feels really balanced and makes for an experience that feels like it sits halfway between previous Warning releases and 40 Watt Sun.

There really isn’t a boring moment on Rituals of Shame. I know a lot of people consider “Footprints” to be something of a peak on Watching from a Distance—the “hit,” if you will —and maybe that person might feel like Rituals of Shame is missing a hit, but I’m not sure it needs one. The whole album feels like a really cohesive piece; one that deserves to be enjoyed all in one dose. Just brace yourself: like its predecessor, this thing hits like a truck.