It’s almost a shame that NO WARNING aren’t a more popular band at this stage in their musical careers, because otherwise, the band’s jump from uber-indie, Bridge 9 to LINKIN’ PARK’s new imprint “Machine Shop” would have garnered the same kind notoreity that HATEBREED faced when moving forward from Victory, and in less open-minded times, when SICK OF IT ALL landed on East-West. In any rate, NO WARNING makes the jump to the majors with plenty of grace on Suffer, Survive, but undeniably, there’s going to be a lot of discussion about how much the nu-metal bug works its way into the band’s latest batch of songs. I don’t know if my ears are deceiving themselves, but vocalist Ben Cook confronts his newfound melodic singing parts in a very similar manner to Chester Bennington. Would I make this connection not knowing that Suffer, Survive is on LINKIN’ PARK’s new imprint? Who knows… but the melodic intervention that grips ahold of this release is pretty strong, and a tremendous departure from the band’s tough-as-nails sound on Ill Blood. That said, NO WARNING are still a powerhouse and blitz with an arsenal of crunchy guitars, voluminous bass lines, and thoroughly intrepid drumming. The ten tracks that make up this release cover only 29 minutes of music, and not for one second does NO WARNING let excessive songwriting get the best of them. There are no ballards, no indulgent interludes, and thankfully, no gratuitious, inane sing-alongs. Occasionally, the band has more in common with SUM 41 than CRO-MAGS, especially on the catchy tune, “Breeding Insanity,” but on the whole, NO WARNING kick up some dust with speedy blasts of headstrong hardcore that will have circle pits spreading across ballrooms, and legions of fists hoisted high in the air. For the time being, I would still pick Ill Blood as NO WARNING’s preferable piece of work, but Suffer, Survive is hardly a step backwards for the band. Inevitably, the group’s fusing of melody, grating furiously against its hardcore foundation will turn away a number of former fans, but it’s clear that NO WARNING didn’t write this disc with the intention of pleasing everyone in the hardcore community (or for that matter, having ‘singles’ lurking in every corner, which is far, far from the case), and no doubt, they’ve come out of this recording experience with a few more options at their reach. Treat Suffer, Survive without any predispositions – you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Machine Shop/Warner Bros.

www.nowarning.com