Review by Daniel for Warning (FRA) - Warning (1982)

The early French metal scene was a little slow to get off the mark in comparison to their competition in the NWOBHM. In fact, we really didn't see any genuinely heavy releases of any note coming out of France during the first decade of the metal journey & 1980 didn't offer a whole lot more with only the very popular Trust pushing a sound that touched on the heavy metal model. However 1981 would see some competition finally starting to take shape in the self-titled debut album from a five-piece outfit from gay Paris going by the name of Warning (not to be confused with the avant-garde German doom metal band Warning that released their own self-titled album in 1982 just to make things confusing). "Warning" was a more than decent hard rock record but there was little sign of any legitimate heavy metal on there to tell you the truth. We'd have to wait for the 1982 follow-up release "Warning II" to hear anything close to that (well actually it's also called "Warning" but let's go with "Warning II" to avoid even more confusion).

Now if we're working to the letter of the law, then it's definitely more accurate to say that "Warning II" showcased a brand of heavy music that still sat more comfortably under the hard rock banner than the heavy metal one overall with the influence of bands like AC/DC, Van Halen & Def Leppard all jumping out pretty obviously. But there's still just enough genuine metal on offer on to satisfy all you metalheads out there & it's of a pretty high quality too with Judas Priest & Riot seeming to be the main influences if my ears don't deceive me. Warning were an extremely talented bunch of musicians & I’d be very surprised if they weren’t seasoned veterans of the scene by this stage in their careers because these songs are beautifully performed & constructed. The guitar solos in particular are quite breath-taking & lead shredder Christophe Aubert possesses some serious chops to burn. Do I even hear some sweep picking at one point which would be more than a year before legendary Swedish shred virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen brought this technique to global infamy? Vocalist Raphael Garrido has an extremely bad-assed style of vocal delivery that I really enjoy too. It makes the French lyrics sound so much more palatable to an English speaking listener like myself. I’d suggest that his sound falls somewhere between Accept’s Udo Dirkschneider & Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine with a bit Judas Priest’s Rob Halford in his upper register screams. Now that might sound horrible to some people but give him a chance because this guy is pure rock ‘n’ roll.

The production job on “Warning II” is very good with the production team favouring more of a hard rock sound than a metal one. The bass guitar could be a little louder in the mix but it’s not a major concern.

The tracklisting is particularly consistent overall with just the one track falling into the filler category however there aren’t really all that many highlight songs which is what has possibly prevented “Warning II” from a greater level of success. I still quite like it though & to be honest these first couple of Warning albums mark the earliest foreign language metal releases that I find much enjoyment in. I probably prefer the follow-up just slightly over the debut but I'd recommend that you give them both a spin if you're partial to well composed & executed heavy rock.