Produced by DW Norton
Released: 2007
Armed with a new singer and attached to a new label, Daysend showed almost immediately with this album that the four year break since their debut had almost no impact on them whatsoever. The Warning takes up virtually where Severance left off, with infectious melodies and riffs thrown up relentlessly throughout an array of well-written songs. If there’s one difference, it’s that none of them are as instantly memorable as “Born is the Enemy” or “Blood of Angels”.
The change of vocalist is barely noticable, as Mark McKernan has a voice virtually indistinguishable from that of former singer Simon Calabrese. This merely results in ensuring that The Warning flows directly on from its predecessor. Indeed, this album is a totally natural progression from the previous one, with a more discernable emphasis on melody. The heavy parts are still very much in evidence also, but the focus on melody means that Daysend has swerved even further toward commercial melodic metalcore. This has always been the band’s intention of course, and Daysend is very good at it. Strangely then, the album opens with one of its weakest tracks. Catchy as it is, “Shoot the Messenger” sounds like it was written with riffs left over from Severance. This isn’t a bad song, but you just know this band is capable of better. It’s a promise which they soon come good on with “Scars Remain” and “Blacker Days”, and “No Regrets” is a killer. Following that is the harmonic instrumental piece “V”, a reworking of a similar track from the Emissions of Reality album by Aaron Bilbija and Wayne Morris’ previous band Deadspawn, then comes the melody-drenched “Winter” with clean-only vocals that makes it the perfect tune for radio airplay.
“Between the Hammer and the Anvil” readdresses the balance then, undoubtedly Daysend’s fastest and heaviest track to date. In fact, the last half of the album is clearly more metal-inspired, with Bilbija’s soloing approaching almost epic proportions in some tracks, notably “The Eyes of the World”. Naturally enough, DW Norton’s production sparkles, although the emphasis on the guitars leaves little room for much bass to come through. That’s hardly a criticism however, because The Warning sounds amazing.
If there was any suspicion that Daysend would have any trouble following up their previous success after such a length gap, a couple of spins of this album should remove any doubt.
- Shoot the Messenger
- Scars Remain
- Blacker Days
- No Regrets
- V
- Winter
- Between the Hammer and the Anvil
- This is a Warning
- Passenger
- The Eyes of the World
- The Violence
- Breathe It In
Rating: 88%
